diff --git a/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Actions.pm b/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Actions.pm
index df50d8f71..306138508 100644
--- a/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Actions.pm
+++ b/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Actions.pm
@@ -384,6 +384,8 @@ sub process_action3( $$$$$ ) {
     my $actionfile = find_file "action.$action";
     my $standard = ( $actionfile =~ /^$globals{SHAREDIR}/ );
 
+    mark_referenced $chainref; # Just in case the action body is empty.
+
     fatal_error "Missing Action File: $actionfile" unless -f $actionfile;
 
     progress_message2 "Processing $actionfile for chain $chainref->{name}...";
diff --git a/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm b/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm
index 7cfe815f7..c4870b8d4 100644
--- a/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm
+++ b/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Chains.pm
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ our @EXPORT = qw( STANDARD
 		  pop_cmd_mode
 		  add_command
 		  add_commands
+		  mark_referenced
 		  add_file
 		  add_rule
 		  insert_rule
@@ -283,6 +284,11 @@ sub add_commands {
     $chainref->{referenced} = 1;
 }
 
+sub mark_referenced( $ ) {
+    my $chainref = shift @_;
+
+    $chainref->{referenced} = 1;
+}
 
 #
 # Copy a file into a chain's rules as a set of run-time commands