diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Zones.pm b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Zones.pm
index c260d3679..a5493a28f 100644
--- a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Zones.pm
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Zones.pm
@@ -567,6 +567,7 @@ sub determine_zones()
 		for ( @{$zones{$zone}{children}} ) {
 		    next ZONE unless $ordered{$_};
 		}
+
 		$ordered{$zone} = 1;
 		push @zones, $zone;
 		redo PUSHED;
@@ -574,7 +575,7 @@ sub determine_zones()
 	}
     }
 
-    assert( scalar @zones == scalar @z );
+    assert( @zones == @z );
 
 }