diff --git a/roles/base/tasks/main.yml b/roles/base/tasks/main.yml
index b19ac4eb73..82fdb05da8 100644
--- a/roles/base/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/base/tasks/main.yml
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@
   - base
 
 - name: iptables
-  template: src={{ item }} dest=/etc/sysconfig/iptables mode=600 backup=yes
+  template: src={{ item }} dest=/etc/sysconfig/iptables mode=600 backup=yes validate="/sbin/iptables-restore --text %s"
   with_first_found:
    - iptables/iptables.{{ datacenter }}
    - iptables/iptables.{{ ansible_fqdn }}