diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm
index fd6189cdd..2111dc6e4 100644
--- a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm
@@ -7097,14 +7097,17 @@ sub interface_address( $ ) {
 #
 sub get_interface_address ( $;$ ) {
     my ( $logical, $provider ) = @_;
-
     my $interface = get_physical( $logical );
     my $variable = interface_address( $interface );
-    my $function = interface_is_optional( $logical ) ? 'find_first_interface_address_if_any' : 'find_first_interface_address';
 
     $global_variables |= ALL_COMMANDS;
 
-    $interfaceaddr{$interface} = "$variable=\$($function $interface)\n";
+    if ( $interface eq loopback_interface ) {
+	$interfaceaddr{$interface} = "$variable=" . loopback_address;
+    } else {
+	my $function = interface_is_optional( $logical ) ? 'find_first_interface_address_if_any' : 'find_first_interface_address';
+	$interfaceaddr{$interface} = "$variable=\$($function $interface)\n";
+    }
 
     set_interface_option( $logical, 'used_address_variable', 1 ) unless $provider;
 
diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/IPAddrs.pm b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/IPAddrs.pm
index 847f79db5..2deb15068 100644
--- a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/IPAddrs.pm
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/IPAddrs.pm
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ our @EXPORT = ( qw( ALLIPv4
 		  decompose_net
 		  decompose_net_u32
 		  compare_nets
+		  loopback_address
 		  validate_host
 		  validate_range
 		  ip_range_explicit
@@ -98,12 +99,14 @@ our $resolve_dnsname;
 our $validate_range;
 our $validate_host;
 our $family;
+our $loopback_address;
 
 use constant { ALLIPv4             => '0.0.0.0/0' ,
 	       ALLIPv6             => '::/0' ,
 	       NILIPv4             => '0.0.0.0' ,
 	       NILIPv6             => '::' ,
 	       IPv4_MULTICAST      => '224.0.0.0/4' ,
+	       IPv4_LOOPBACK       => '127.0.0.1' ,
 	       IPv6_MULTICAST      => 'ff00::/8' ,
 	       IPv6_LINKLOCAL      => 'fe80::/10' ,
 	       IPv6_SITELOCAL      => 'feC0::/10' ,
@@ -370,6 +373,10 @@ sub rfc1918_networks() {
     @rfc1918_networks
 }
 
+sub loopback_address() {
+    $loopback_address;
+}
+
 #
 # Protocol/port validation
 #
@@ -755,6 +762,7 @@ sub initialize( $ ) {
 	$nilip            = NILIPv4;
 	@nilip            = @nilipv4;
 	$vlsm_width       = VLSMv4;
+	$loopback_address = IPv4_LOOPBACK;
 	$valid_address    = \&valid_4address;
 	$validate_address = \&validate_4address;
 	$validate_net     = \&validate_4net;
@@ -767,6 +775,7 @@ sub initialize( $ ) {
 	$nilip            = NILIPv6;
 	@nilip            = @nilipv6;
 	$vlsm_width       = VLSMv6;
+	$loopback_address = IPv6_LOOPBACK;
 	$valid_address    = \&valid_6address;
 	$validate_address = \&validate_6address;
 	$validate_net     = \&validate_6net;