diff --git a/utils/apparmor/rule/__init__.py b/utils/apparmor/rule/__init__.py
index 3150600dd..27cd4b35b 100644
--- a/utils/apparmor/rule/__init__.py
+++ b/utils/apparmor/rule/__init__.py
@@ -81,6 +81,11 @@ class BaseRule(object):
            required to be implemented by subclasses; raise exception if not'''
         raise AppArmorBug("'%s' needs to implement _parse(), but didn't" % (str(cls)))
 
+    # @abstractmethod  FIXME - uncomment when python3 only
+    def get_clean(self, depth=0):
+        '''return clean rule (with default formatting, and leading whitespace as specified in the depth parameter)'''
+        raise AppArmorBug("'%s' needs to implement get_clean(), but didn't" % (str(self.__class__)))
+
     def get_raw(self, depth=0):
         '''return raw rule (with original formatting, and leading whitespace in the depth parameter)'''
         if self.raw_rule:
diff --git a/utils/test/test-baserule.py b/utils/test/test-baserule.py
index 74fd4a195..b5b3ba66f 100644
--- a/utils/test/test-baserule.py
+++ b/utils/test/test-baserule.py
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ class TestBaserule(AATest):
         with self.assertRaises(AppArmorBug):
             BaseRule.match('foo')
 
+    def test_abstract_get_clean(self):
+        obj = BaseRule()
+        with self.assertRaises(AppArmorBug):
+            obj.get_clean()
+
     def test_is_equal_localvars(self):
         obj = BaseRule()
         with self.assertRaises(AppArmorBug):