diff --git a/notification.c b/notification.c
index 21ccfee..af37e9e 100644
--- a/notification.c
+++ b/notification.c
@@ -335,6 +335,10 @@ int notification_init(notification * n, int id)
 
         n->format = settings.format;
 
+        if (n->category == NULL) {
+                n->category = "";
+        }
+        
         rule_apply_all(n);
 
         n->urls = notification_extract_markup_urls(&(n->body));
@@ -450,10 +454,6 @@ int notification_init(notification * n, int id)
                 n->icon = strdup(settings.icons[n->urgency]);
         }
 
-        if (n->category == NULL) {
-                n->category = "";
-        }
-
         n->timestamp = time(NULL);
 
         n->redisplayed = false;