diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Providers.pm b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Providers.pm
index 0fddf35a8..ca4df0203 100644
--- a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Providers.pm
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Providers.pm
@@ -853,6 +853,11 @@ sub handle_optional_interfaces( $ ) {
     #
     my $interfaces = find_interfaces_by_option1 'optional';
 
+    if ( $config{REQUIRE_INTERFACE} ) {
+	emit( 'HAVE_INTERFACE=' );
+	emit( '' );
+    }
+
     if ( @$interfaces ) {
 	for my $interface ( @$interfaces ) {
 	    my $provider = $provider_interfaces{$interface};
@@ -861,11 +866,6 @@ sub handle_optional_interfaces( $ ) {
 
 	    emit( '' );
 
-	    if ( $config{REQUIRE_INTERFACE} ) {
-		emit( 'HAVE_INTERFACE=' );
-		emit( '' );
-	    }
-
 	    if ( $provider ) {
 		#
 		# This interface is associated with a non-shared provider -- get the provider table entry