diff --git a/phosphor-rsyslog-config/server-conf.cpp b/phosphor-rsyslog-config/server-conf.cpp
index fb5d086..ad12a9e 100644
--- a/phosphor-rsyslog-config/server-conf.cpp
+++ b/phosphor-rsyslog-config/server-conf.cpp
@@ -187,10 +187,12 @@
     }
     else // this is a disable request
     {
-        // write '*.* ~' - this causes rsyslog to discard all messages
-        stream << "*.* ~";
+        // dummy action to avoid error 2103 on startup
+        stream << "*.* /dev/null";
     }
 
+    stream << std::endl;
+
     restart();
 }