diff --git a/src/app-layer-htp.c b/src/app-layer-htp.c
index 5b8dfc5f24..37230b6bd3 100644
--- a/src/app-layer-htp.c
+++ b/src/app-layer-htp.c
@@ -95,16 +95,6 @@ static uint64_t htp_state_memuse = 0;
 static uint64_t htp_state_memcnt = 0;
 #endif
 
-/** part of the engine needs the request body (e.g. http_client_body keyword) */
-uint8_t need_htp_request_body = 0;
-/** part of the engine needs the request body multipart header (e.g. filename
- *  and / or fileext keywords) */
-uint8_t need_htp_request_multipart_hdr = 0;
-/** part of the engine needs the request file (e.g. log-file module) */
-uint8_t need_htp_request_file = 0;
-/** part of the engine needs the request body (e.g. file_data keyword) */
-uint8_t need_htp_response_body = 0;
-
 SCEnumCharMap http_decoder_event_table[ ] = {
     { "UNKNOWN_ERROR",
         HTTP_DECODER_EVENT_UNKNOWN_ERROR},
@@ -356,7 +346,8 @@ void HTPStateTransactionFree(void *state, uint16_t id) {
 void AppLayerHtpEnableRequestBodyCallback(void)
 {
     SCEnter();
-    need_htp_request_body = 1;
+
+    SC_ATOMIC_OR(htp_config_flags, HTP_REQUIRE_REQUEST_BODY);
     SCReturn;
 }
 
@@ -368,7 +359,8 @@ void AppLayerHtpEnableRequestBodyCallback(void)
 void AppLayerHtpEnableResponseBodyCallback(void)
 {
     SCEnter();
-    need_htp_response_body = 1;
+
+    SC_ATOMIC_OR(htp_config_flags, HTP_REQUIRE_RESPONSE_BODY);
     SCReturn;
 }
 
@@ -382,7 +374,7 @@ void AppLayerHtpNeedMultipartHeader(void) {
     SCEnter();
     AppLayerHtpEnableRequestBodyCallback();
 
-    need_htp_request_multipart_hdr = 1;
+    SC_ATOMIC_OR(htp_config_flags, HTP_REQUIRE_REQUEST_MULTIPART);
     SCReturn;
 }
 
@@ -399,7 +391,7 @@ void AppLayerHtpNeedFileInspection(void)
     AppLayerHtpEnableRequestBodyCallback();
     AppLayerHtpEnableResponseBodyCallback();
 
-    need_htp_request_file = 1;
+    SC_ATOMIC_OR(htp_config_flags, HTP_REQUIRE_REQUEST_FILE);
     SCReturn;
 }
 
@@ -1779,7 +1771,7 @@ int HTPCallbackRequestBodyData(htp_tx_data_t *d)
 {
     SCEnter();
 
-    if (need_htp_request_body == 0)
+    if (!(SC_ATOMIC_GET(htp_config_flags) & HTP_REQUIRE_REQUEST_BODY))
         SCReturnInt(HOOK_OK);
 
 #ifdef PRINT
@@ -1902,7 +1894,7 @@ int HTPCallbackResponseBodyData(htp_tx_data_t *d)
 {
     SCEnter();
 
-    if (need_htp_response_body == 0)
+    if (!(SC_ATOMIC_GET(htp_config_flags) & HTP_REQUIRE_RESPONSE_BODY))
         SCReturnInt(HOOK_OK);
 
     HtpState *hstate = (HtpState *)d->tx->connp->user_data;
@@ -2485,6 +2477,7 @@ void RegisterHTPParsers(void)
     AppLayerRegisterProto(proto_name, ALPROTO_HTTP, STREAM_TOCLIENT,
                           HTPHandleResponseData);
 
+    SC_ATOMIC_INIT(htp_config_flags);
     HTPConfigure();
     SCReturn;
 }
diff --git a/src/app-layer-htp.h b/src/app-layer-htp.h
index 38a6413db2..8ee199a63d 100644
--- a/src/app-layer-htp.h
+++ b/src/app-layer-htp.h
@@ -204,14 +204,16 @@ typedef struct HtpState_ {
 } HtpState;
 
 /** part of the engine needs the request body (e.g. http_client_body keyword) */
-extern uint8_t need_htp_request_body;
+#define HTP_REQUIRE_REQUEST_BODY        (1 << 0)
 /** part of the engine needs the request body multipart header (e.g. filename
  *  and / or fileext keywords) */
-extern uint8_t need_htp_request_multipart_hdr;
+#define HTP_REQUIRE_REQUEST_MULTIPART   (1 << 1)
 /** part of the engine needs the request file (e.g. log-file module) */
-extern uint8_t need_htp_request_file;
+#define HTP_REQUIRE_REQUEST_FILE        (1 << 2)
 /** part of the engine needs the request body (e.g. file_data keyword) */
-extern uint8_t need_htp_response_body;
+#define HTP_REQUIRE_RESPONSE_BODY       (1 << 3)
+
+SC_ATOMIC_DECLARE(uint32_t, htp_config_flags);
 
 void RegisterHTPParsers(void);
 void HTPParserRegisterTests(void);
diff --git a/src/detect-engine.c b/src/detect-engine.c
index 665ae35420..c0206906a8 100644
--- a/src/detect-engine.c
+++ b/src/detect-engine.c
@@ -126,32 +126,12 @@ static void *DetectEngineLiveRuleSwap(void *arg)
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
-    uint8_t local_need_htp_request_body = need_htp_request_body;
-    uint8_t local_need_htp_request_multipart_hdr = need_htp_request_multipart_hdr;
-    uint8_t local_need_htp_request_file = need_htp_request_file;
-    uint8_t local_need_htp_response_body = need_htp_response_body;
-
     if (SigLoadSignatures(de_ctx, NULL, FALSE) < 0) {
         SCLogError(SC_ERR_NO_RULES_LOADED, "Loading signatures failed.");
         if (de_ctx->failure_fatal)
             exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
-    if (local_need_htp_request_body != need_htp_request_body ||
-        local_need_htp_request_multipart_hdr != need_htp_request_multipart_hdr ||
-        local_need_htp_request_file != need_htp_request_file ||
-        local_need_htp_response_body != need_htp_response_body) {
-        SCLogInfo("===== New ruleset requires enabling htp features that "
-                  "can't be enabled at runtime.  You will have to restart "
-                  "engine to load the new ruleset =====");
-        DetectEngineCtxFree(de_ctx);
-        UtilSignalHandlerSetup(SIGUSR2, SignalHandlerSigusr2);
-
-        TmThreadsSetFlag(tv_local, THV_CLOSED);
-
-        pthread_exit(NULL);
-    }
-
     SCThresholdConfInitContext(de_ctx, NULL);
 
     /* start the process of swapping detect threads ctxs */