* @OVS_FLOW_ATTR_ACTIONS: Nested %OVS_ACTION_ATTR_* attributes specifying
  * the actions to take for packets that match the key.  Always present in
  * notifications.  Required for %OVS_FLOW_CMD_NEW requests, optional for
- * %OVS_FLOW_CMD_SET requests.
+ * %OVS_FLOW_CMD_SET requests.  An %OVS_FLOW_CMD_SET without
+ * %OVS_FLOW_ATTR_ACTIONS will not modify the actions.  To clear the actions,
+ * an %OVS_FLOW_ATTR_ACTIONS without any nested attributes must be given.
  * @OVS_FLOW_ATTR_STATS: &struct ovs_flow_stats giving statistics for this
  * flow.  Present in notifications if the stats would be nonzero.  Ignored in
  * requests.
 
                        goto err_kfree;
                }
        } else if (info->genlhdr->cmd == OVS_FLOW_CMD_NEW) {
+               /* OVS_FLOW_CMD_NEW must have actions. */
                error = -EINVAL;
                goto error;
        }
                reply = ovs_flow_cmd_build_info(flow, dp, info, OVS_FLOW_CMD_NEW);
        } else {
                /* We found a matching flow. */
-               struct sw_flow_actions *old_acts;
-
                /* Bail out if we're not allowed to modify an existing flow.
                 * We accept NLM_F_CREATE in place of the intended NLM_F_EXCL
                 * because Generic Netlink treats the latter as a dump
                if (!ovs_flow_cmp_unmasked_key(flow, &match))
                        goto err_unlock_ovs;
 
-               /* Update actions. */
-               old_acts = ovsl_dereference(flow->sf_acts);
-               rcu_assign_pointer(flow->sf_acts, acts);
-               ovs_nla_free_flow_actions(old_acts);
+               /* Update actions, if present. */
+               if (acts) {
+                       struct sw_flow_actions *old_acts;
 
+                       old_acts = ovsl_dereference(flow->sf_acts);
+                       rcu_assign_pointer(flow->sf_acts, acts);
+                       ovs_nla_free_flow_actions(old_acts);
+               }
                reply = ovs_flow_cmd_build_info(flow, dp, info, OVS_FLOW_CMD_NEW);
 
                /* Clear stats. */