diff --git a/etc/inc/filter.inc b/etc/inc/filter.inc
index c75ee17abf..32a6cc4609 100644
--- a/etc/inc/filter.inc
+++ b/etc/inc/filter.inc
@@ -145,8 +145,9 @@ function filter_configure() {
 		$rules_error = exec_command("/sbin/pfctl -f {$g['tmp_path']}/rules.debug");
 		$line_error = split("\:", $rules_error);
 		$line_number = $line_error[1];
-		$line_split = split("\n", `cat /tmp/rules.debug`);
-		$line_error = "The line in question reads: " . $line_split[$line_number];
+		$line_split = split("\n", `/bin/cat /tmp/rules.debug`);
+		if(is_array($line_split))
+			$line_error = "The line in question reads: " . $line_split[$line_number];
 		return "There was an error loading the rules.<p><pre>" . $rules_error . "\n" . $line_error . "</pre>";
 	} else {
 		/* process packager manager custom rules */