diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Rules.pm b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Rules.pm
index 39c60a549..45c66d888 100644
--- a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Rules.pm
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Rules.pm
@@ -361,10 +361,12 @@ sub process_a_policy() {
 	    $default = supplied $param ? normalize_action( $def, 'none', $param  ) : normalize_action_name $def;
 	    use_policy_action( $default );
 	} elsif ( find_macro( $def ) ) {
-	    $default = join( '.', 'macro', $def ) unless $default =~ /^macro./;
+	    $def = join( '.', 'macro', $def ) unless $default =~ /^macro./;
 	    if ( supplied $param ) {
 		validate_level($param);
-		$default = join( ':', $default, $param );
+		$default = join( ':', $def, $param );
+	    } else {
+		$default = $def;
 	    }
 	} else {
 	    fatal_error "Unknown Default Action ($default)";
@@ -1151,7 +1153,10 @@ sub merge_levels ($$) {
 sub find_macro( $ )
 {
     my $macro = $_[0];
-    my $macrofile = find_file( $macro =~ /^macro\./ ? $macro : "macro.$macro" );
+
+    $macro =~ s/^macro.//;
+
+    my $macrofile = find_file "macro.$macro";
 
     if ( -f $macrofile ) {
 	$macros{$macro} = $macrofile;
diff --git a/Shorewall/manpages/shorewall-policy.xml b/Shorewall/manpages/shorewall-policy.xml
index 9662e4ac7..dbd48b4da 100644
--- a/Shorewall/manpages/shorewall-policy.xml
+++ b/Shorewall/manpages/shorewall-policy.xml
@@ -125,8 +125,8 @@
 
           <para>Both actions and macros can have parameters specified. In the
           case of a macro, only one parameter is allowed and specifies the log
-          level to be applied to each rule in the action; not recommended for
-          use.</para>
+          level to be applied to each bare LOG rule (e.g., a rule specifying
+          'LOG' with no level or tag in the ACTION column).</para>
 
           <para>Possible actions are:</para>
 
diff --git a/Shorewall6/manpages/shorewall6-policy.xml b/Shorewall6/manpages/shorewall6-policy.xml
index 0d7e6184e..86154322c 100644
--- a/Shorewall6/manpages/shorewall6-policy.xml
+++ b/Shorewall6/manpages/shorewall6-policy.xml
@@ -125,8 +125,8 @@
 
           <para>Both actions and macros can have parameters specified. In the
           case of a macro, only one parameter is allowed and specifies the log
-          level to be applied to each rule in the action; not recommended for
-          use.</para>
+          level to be applied to each bare LOG rule (e.g., a rule specifying
+          'LOG' with no level or tag in the ACTION column).</para>
 
           <para>Possible actions are:</para>