diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/SupportPowers/SpawnActorPower.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/SupportPowers/SpawnActorPower.cs
index 038dfc2eb1..a642366785 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/SupportPowers/SpawnActorPower.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/SupportPowers/SpawnActorPower.cs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.Traits
 		public readonly string EffectImage = null;
 
 		[SequenceReference("EffectImage")]
-		public readonly string EffectSequence = "idle";
+		public readonly string EffectSequence = null;
 
 		[PaletteReference]
 		public readonly string EffectPalette = null;
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/Rules/SpawnActorPowerDefaultEffect.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/Rules/SpawnActorPowerDefaultEffect.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..44b6839db0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/Rules/SpawnActorPowerDefaultEffect.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#region Copyright & License Information
+/*
+ * Copyright 2007-2020 The OpenRA Developers (see AUTHORS)
+ * This file is part of OpenRA, which is free software. It is made
+ * available to you under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of
+ * the License, or (at your option) any later version. For more
+ * information, see COPYING.
+ */
+#endregion
+
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+
+namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.UpdateRules.Rules
+{
+	class SpawnActorPowerDefaultEffect : UpdateRule
+	{
+		public override string Name { get { return "Set SpawnActorPower EffectSequence to it's previous default value."; } }
+		public override string Description
+		{
+			get
+			{
+				return "The 'EffectSequence' of 'SpawnActorPower' is unset by default.";
+			}
+		}
+
+		public override IEnumerable<string> UpdateActorNode(ModData modData, MiniYamlNode actorNode)
+		{
+			foreach (var spawnActorPower in actorNode.ChildrenMatching("SpawnActorPower"))
+			{
+				var effectNode = spawnActorPower.LastChildMatching("EffectSequence");
+				if (effectNode == null)
+					spawnActorPower.AddNode("EffectSequence", "idle");
+			}
+
+			yield break;
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/UpdatePath.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/UpdatePath.cs
index 832d0e23cc..d144a2098c 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/UpdatePath.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UpdateRules/UpdatePath.cs
@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.UpdateRules
 				new ModernizeDecorationTraits(),
 				new RenameInfiltrationNotifications(),
 				new MoveClassicFacingFudge(),
-				new RenameWithNukeLaunch()
+				new RenameWithNukeLaunch(),
+				new SpawnActorPowerDefaultEffect(),
 			})
 		};
 
diff --git a/mods/ra/rules/misc.yaml b/mods/ra/rules/misc.yaml
index 11071e42d1..5e6139429d 100644
--- a/mods/ra/rules/misc.yaml
+++ b/mods/ra/rules/misc.yaml
@@ -339,6 +339,7 @@ powerproxy.sonarpulse:
 		EffectImage: moveflsh
 		EffectPalette: moveflash
 		SupportPowerPaletteOrder: 80
+		EffectSequence: idle
 
 powerproxy.paratroopers:
 	AlwaysVisible: