diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
index 7a3468854..41ae8cc54 100644
--- a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
@@ -2909,7 +2909,7 @@ sub get_params() {
 	    if ( /^(.*?)=(.*)$/ ) {
 		$params{$1} = $2 unless $1 eq '_';
 	    } else {
-		assert(0);
+		warning_message "Unrecognized output from 'env' ($_) ignored";
 	    }
 	} 
     }
diff --git a/Shorewall/changelog.txt b/Shorewall/changelog.txt
index ff80ea31d..3d2096270 100644
--- a/Shorewall/changelog.txt
+++ b/Shorewall/changelog.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Changes in Shorewall 4.4.16
 
-None.
+1)  Change assertion into a warning in getparams.
 
 Changes in Shorewall 4.4.15
 
diff --git a/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt b/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt
index 6b7e5665b..59d23d1c3 100644
--- a/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt
+++ b/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,13 @@ VI.   PROBLEMS CORRECTED AND NEW FEATURES IN PRIOR RELEASES
   I.  P R O B L E M S   C O R R E C T E D   I N   T H I S  R E L E A S E
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-None.
+1)  If the output of 'env' contained a multi-line value, then
+    compilation failed with an Internal Error. The code has been
+    changed so that the compiler now emits a warning and continues:
+
+    	WARNING: Unrecognized output from 'env' (...) ignored
+
+    where ... is the output.
 
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
            I I.  K N O W N   P R O B L E M S   R E M A I N I N G