diff --git a/iptables/nft.c b/iptables/nft.c
index e55c18c..7e1b47b 100644
--- a/iptables/nft.c
+++ b/iptables/nft.c
@@ -2483,6 +2483,10 @@
 	struct nft_chain_list_iter *iter;
 	struct nft_chain *c;
 
+	/* If built-in chains don't exist for this table, create them */
+	if (nft_xtables_config_load(h, XTABLES_CONFIG_DEFAULT, 0) < 0)
+		nft_chain_builtin_init(h, table, NULL, NF_ACCEPT);
+
 	list = nft_chain_dump(h);
 
 	iter = nft_chain_list_iter_create(list);