This still happens with: network-manager/testing,unstable,now 1.10.6-2 amd64 [installed] network-manager-openvpn/testing,unstable,now 1.8.2-1 amd64 [installed] openvpn/testing,unstable,now 2.4.5-1 amd64 [installed]
I've found a potentially less clumsy workaround, but didn't try it yet: https://askubuntu.com/questions/902710/openvpn-restart-breaks-connection
