diff --git a/Shorewall/changelog.txt b/Shorewall/changelog.txt
index 27497ef84..fd46a486e 100755
--- a/Shorewall/changelog.txt
+++ b/Shorewall/changelog.txt
@@ -87,3 +87,5 @@ Changes in 3.1.x.
 3.1.7
 
 38)  Remove compile-time running of extension scripts.
+
+39)  Correctly handle interfaces named 'inet'.
diff --git a/Shorewall/compiler b/Shorewall/compiler
index afd33694e..7f770fc0d 100755
--- a/Shorewall/compiler
+++ b/Shorewall/compiler
@@ -1042,7 +1042,7 @@ validate_interfaces_file() {
 		    ;;
 		norfc1918)
 		    cat >&3 << __EOF__
-${INDENT}addr=\$(ip -f inet addr show $interface 2> /dev/null | grep inet | head -n1)
+${INDENT}addr=\$(ip -f inet addr show $interface 2> /dev/null | grep 'inet\ ' | head -n1)
 ${INDENT}if [ -n "\$addr" ]; then
 ${INDENT}    addr=\$(echo \$addr | sed 's/inet //;s/\/.*//;s/ peer.*//')
 ${INDENT}    for network in 10.0.0.0/8 176.16.0.0/12 192.168.0.0/16; do
diff --git a/Shorewall/functions b/Shorewall/functions
index 2be73c488..5b6db1298 100755
--- a/Shorewall/functions
+++ b/Shorewall/functions
@@ -1067,7 +1067,7 @@ find_first_interface_address() # $1 = interface
 #
 find_interface_addresses() # $1 = interface
 {
-    ip -f inet addr show $1 | grep inet | sed 's/inet //;s/\/.*//;s/ peer.*//'
+    ip -f inet addr show $1 | grep inet\  | sed 's/inet //;s/\/.*//;s/ peer.*//'
 }
 
 #
diff --git a/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt b/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt
index 6abb6a5a5..9f85f6b8e 100755
--- a/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt
+++ b/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ Note to users upgrading from Shorewall 2.x or 3.0
 
 Problems Corrected in 3.1.8
 
-None.
+1)  Previously, startup errors occurred if the user had configured a network
+    interface named 'inet'.
 
 Other changes in 3.1.8