diff --git a/src/etc/inc/config.inc b/src/etc/inc/config.inc
index f83df3daa..caa1315db 100644
--- a/src/etc/inc/config.inc
+++ b/src/etc/inc/config.inc
@@ -272,6 +272,24 @@ function legacy_config_get_interfaces($filters = array())
     return $interfaces;
 }
 
+/**
+ * legacy helper to generate a uuid in a similar fashion as the model code would.
+ */
+function generate_uuid()
+{
+    return sprintf(
+        '%04x%04x-%04x-%04x-%04x-%04x%04x%04x',
+        mt_rand(0, 0xffff),
+        mt_rand(0, 0xffff),
+        mt_rand(0, 0xffff),
+        mt_rand(0, 0x0fff) | 0x4000,
+        mt_rand(0, 0x3fff) | 0x8000,
+        mt_rand(0, 0xffff),
+        mt_rand(0, 0xffff),
+        mt_rand(0, 0xffff)
+    );
+}
+
 /**
  * parse stored json content, return empty when not found or expired
  */
diff --git a/src/etc/inc/filter.inc b/src/etc/inc/filter.inc
index bd761a5a3..b34e3a5fc 100644
--- a/src/etc/inc/filter.inc
+++ b/src/etc/inc/filter.inc
@@ -86,9 +86,14 @@ function filter_rules_sort()
             return strnatcmp($a['interface'], $b['interface']);
         }
     });
-    /* strip the sequence numbers again */
+    /* strip the sequence numbers again, add uuid's where not available */
     for ($i = 0; isset($config['filter']['rule'][$i]); $i++) {
         unset($config['filter']['rule'][$i]['seq']);
+        if (empty($config['filter']['rule'][$i]['@attributes'])
+            && empty($config['filter']['rule'][$i]['@attributes']['uuid'])
+        ) {
+            $config['filter']['rule'][$i]['@attributes'] = ['uuid' => generate_uuid()];
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/www/firewall_rules_edit.php b/src/www/firewall_rules_edit.php
index 4d9b3ac8c..178c05120 100644
--- a/src/www/firewall_rules_edit.php
+++ b/src/www/firewall_rules_edit.php
@@ -582,9 +582,15 @@ if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'GET') {
             if ( isset($a_filter[$id]['created']) && is_array($a_filter[$id]['created']) ) {
                 $filterent['created'] = $a_filter[$id]['created'];
             }
+            if (!empty($a_filter[$id]['@attributes']) && !empty($a_filter[$id]['@attributes']['uuid'])) {
+                $filterent['@attributes'] = $a_filter[$id]['@attributes'];
+            } else {
+                $filterent['@attributes'] = ['uuid' => generate_uuid()];
+            }
             $a_filter[$id] = $filterent;
         } else {
             $filterent['created'] = make_config_revision_entry();
+            $filterent['@attributes'] = ['uuid' => generate_uuid()];
             if (isset($after)) {
                 array_splice($a_filter, $after+1, 0, array($filterent));
             } else {