diff --git a/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm b/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm
index 6cd7fe3d3..ce01d232f 100644
--- a/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm
+++ b/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm
@@ -1426,7 +1426,7 @@ sub match_source_net( $;$ ) {
 	$net =~ s/!// if my $invert = $1 ? '! ' : '';
 	validate_range $addr1, $addr2;
 	iprange_match . "${invert}--src-range $net ";
-    } elsif ( $net =~ /^!?~.*$/ ) {
+    } elsif ( $net =~ /^!?~/ ) {
 	fatal_error "MAC address cannot be used in this context" if $restriction >= OUTPUT_RESTRICT;	
 	mac_match $net;
     } elsif ( $net =~ /^(!?)\+/ ) {