diff --git a/Koha/CirculationRules.pm b/Koha/CirculationRules.pm
index 87062f541a..5b63998a8b 100644
--- a/Koha/CirculationRules.pm
+++ b/Koha/CirculationRules.pm
@@ -62,12 +62,15 @@ our $RULE_KINDS = {
 
     holdallowed => {
         scope => [ 'branchcode', 'itemtype' ],
+        can_be_blank => 0,
     },
     hold_fulfillment_policy => {
         scope => [ 'branchcode', 'itemtype' ],
+        can_be_blank => 0,
     },
     returnbranch => {
         scope => [ 'branchcode', 'itemtype' ],
+        can_be_blank => 0,
     },
 
     article_requests => {
@@ -278,6 +281,8 @@ sub set_rule {
     my $itemtype     = $params->{itemtype};
     my $rule_name    = $params->{rule_name};
     my $rule_value   = $params->{rule_value};
+    my $can_be_blank = defined $kind_info->{can_be_blank} ? $kind_info->{can_be_blank} : 1;
+    $rule_value = undef if $rule_value eq "" && !$can_be_blank;
 
     for my $v ( $branchcode, $categorycode, $itemtype ) {
         $v = undef if $v and $v eq '*';
diff --git a/admin/smart-rules.pl b/admin/smart-rules.pl
index 4a4727e5c2..a2e9b41cd8 100755
--- a/admin/smart-rules.pl
+++ b/admin/smart-rules.pl
@@ -341,8 +341,6 @@ elsif ($op eq "set-branch-defaults") {
     my $hold_fulfillment_policy = $input->param('hold_fulfillment_policy');
     my $returnbranch  = $input->param('returnbranch');
     my $max_holds = strip_non_numeric( scalar $input->param('max_holds') );
-    $holdallowed =~ s/\s//g;
-    $holdallowed = undef if $holdallowed !~ /^\d+/;
 
     if ($branch eq "*") {
         Koha::CirculationRules->set_rules(