diff --git a/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Config.pm b/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
index 459d4fd50..2421b3d7c 100644
--- a/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
+++ b/Shorewall-perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
@@ -741,7 +741,7 @@ sub get_configuration( $ ) {
 	    $config{IPTABLES} = mywhich 'iptables';
 	    fatal_error "Can't find iptables executable" unless $config{IPTABLES};
 	} else {
-	    fatal_error "\$IPTABLES=$capabilities{IPTABLES} does not exist or is not executable" unless -x $capabilities{IPTABLES};
+	    fatal_error "\$IPTABLES=$capabilities{IPTABLES} does not exist or is not executable" unless -x $config{IPTABLES};
 	}
 
 	load_kernel_modules;