System and method to bypass the forwarding information base (FIB) for interest packet forwarding in an information-centric networking (ICN) environment

A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include receiving an interest packet at a network element, wherein the interest packet identifies content requested by a consumer; determining whether a temporary face identifier (ID) contained in the interest packet is stored at the network element; and forwarding the interest packet to another network element based on a determination that the temporary face ID is stored at the network element, wherein the temporary face ID is associated with a face of the network element connected to the other network element.