diff --git a/tc/m_simple.c b/tc/m_simple.c
index 886606f9..e3c8a60f 100644
--- a/tc/m_simple.c
+++ b/tc/m_simple.c
@@ -119,6 +119,9 @@ parse_simple(struct action_util *a, int *argc_p, char ***argv_p, int tca_id,
 		}
 	}
 
+	parse_action_control_dflt(&argc, &argv, &sel.action, false,
+				  TC_ACT_PIPE);
+
 	if (argc) {
 		if (matches(*argv, "index") == 0) {
 			NEXT_ARG();
@@ -144,8 +147,6 @@ parse_simple(struct action_util *a, int *argc_p, char ***argv_p, int tca_id,
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	sel.action = TC_ACT_PIPE;
-
 	tail = addattr_nest(n, MAX_MSG, tca_id);
 	addattr_l(n, MAX_MSG, TCA_DEF_PARMS, &sel, sizeof(sel));
 	if (simpdata)