diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
index da7ac67eb..0b2efc7ae 100644
--- a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
@@ -6593,11 +6593,14 @@ sub get_configuration( $$$ ) {
     default_yes_no 'MANGLE_ENABLED'             , have_capability( 'MANGLE_ENABLED' ) ? 'Yes' : '';
     default_yes_no 'USE_DEFAULT_RT'             , '';
     default_yes_no 'RESTORE_DEFAULT_ROUTE'      , 'Yes';
-    default_yes_no 'AUTOMAKE'                   , '' unless ( $val = $config{AUTOMAKE} ) && $val =~ /^\d{1,2}$/; 
     default_yes_no 'TRACK_PROVIDERS'            , 'Yes';
     default_yes_no 'BALANCE_PROVIDERS'          , $config{USE_DEFAULT_RT} ? 'Yes' : '';
     default_yes_no 'USE_NFLOG_SIZE'             , '';
 
+    if ( ( $val = $config{AUTOMAKE} ) !~ /^[Rr]ecursive$/ ) {
+	default_yes_no( 'AUTOMAKE' , '' ) unless $val && $val =~ /^\d{1,2}$/;
+    }
+
     if ( $config{USE_NFLOG_SIZE} ) {
 	if ( have_capability( 'NFLOG_SIZE' ) ) {
 	    @suffixes = qw(group size threshold nlgroup cprange qthreshold);
diff --git a/Shorewall/lib.cli-std b/Shorewall/lib.cli-std
index d4c598bce..8bbe80e3d 100644
--- a/Shorewall/lib.cli-std
+++ b/Shorewall/lib.cli-std
@@ -290,6 +290,9 @@ get_config() {
 	    ;;
 	[1-9][0-9])
 	    ;;
+	[Rr]ecursive)
+	    AUTOMAKE=recursive
+	    ;;
 	*)
 	    if [ -n "$AUTOMAKE" ]; then
 		fatal_error "Invalid AUTOMAKE setting ($AUTOMAKE)"
@@ -402,7 +405,15 @@ uptodate() {
 	    #
 	    # Busybox 'find' doesn't support -quit.
 	    #
-	    if [ -n "$(${find} ${dir} -maxdepth $AUTOMAKE -type f -newer $1 -print)" ]; then
+	    if [ $AUTOMAKE = recursive ]; then
+		if [ -n "$(${find} ${dir} -newer $1 -print)" ]; then
+		    return 1;
+		fi
+	    elif  [ -n "$(${find} ${dir} -maxdepth $AUTOMAKE -type f -newer $1 -print)" ]; then
+		return 1;
+	    fi
+	elif [ $AUTOMAKE = recursive ]; then
+	    if [ -n "$(${find} ${dir} -newer $1 -print -quit)" ]; then
 		return 1;
 	    fi
 	elif [ -n "$(${find} ${dir} -maxdepth $AUTOMAKE -type f -newer $1 -print -quit)" ]; then
diff --git a/Shorewall/manpages/shorewall.conf.xml b/Shorewall/manpages/shorewall.conf.xml
index ad729548f..2f2013266 100644
--- a/Shorewall/manpages/shorewall.conf.xml
+++ b/Shorewall/manpages/shorewall.conf.xml
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@
       <varlistentry>
         <term><emphasis role="bold">AUTOMAKE=</emphasis>[<emphasis
         role="bold">Yes</emphasis>|<emphasis
-        role="bold">No</emphasis>|<replaceable>depth</replaceable>]</term>
+        role="bold">No</emphasis>|<option>recursive</option>|<replaceable>depth</replaceable>]</term>
 
         <listitem>
           <para>If set, the behavior of the <command>start</command>,
@@ -492,13 +492,17 @@
           Prior to 5.1.10.2, a change to a file in or adding a file to
           /etc/shorewall/rules.d/loc/ would trigger recompilation. Beginning
           with 5.1.10.2, such changes would not trigger recompilation.
-          Beginning with Shorewall 5.2.0, AUTOMAKE may be set to a numeric
-          <replaceable>depth</replaceable> which specifies how deeply each
-          listed directory is to be searched. AUTOMAKE=1 only searches each
-          directory itself and is equivalent to AUTOMAKE=Yes. AUTOMAKE=2 will
-          search each directory and its immediate sub-directories; AUTOMAKE=3
-          will search each diretory, each of its immediate sub-directories,
-          and each of their immediate sub-directories, etc.</para>
+          Beginning with Shorewall 5.2.0, the pre-5.1.10.2 behavior can be
+          obtained by setting AUTOMAKE=recursive.</para>
+
+          <para>Also beginning with Shorewall 5.2.0, AUTOMAKE may be set to a
+          numeric <replaceable>depth</replaceable> which specifies how deeply
+          each listed directory is to be searched. AUTOMAKE=1 only searches
+          each directory itself and is equivalent to AUTOMAKE=Yes. AUTOMAKE=2
+          will search each directory and its immediate sub-directories;
+          AUTOMAKE=3 will search each diretory, each of its immediate
+          sub-directories, and each of their immediate sub-directories,
+          etc.</para>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>