diff --git a/src/patch/register.rs b/src/patch/register.rs
index b628878c..1f2711b2 100644
--- a/src/patch/register.rs
+++ b/src/patch/register.rs
@@ -533,11 +533,7 @@ impl RegisterExt for Register {
 
     fn set_field_read_action(&mut self, fspec: &str, action: ReadAction) {
         for ftag in self.iter_fields(fspec) {
-            ftag.read_action = if action == ReadAction::Modify {
-                None
-            } else {
-                Some(action)
-            };
+            ftag.read_action = Some(action);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/svdtools/patch.py b/svdtools/patch.py
index bf5789ef..f67323db 100644
--- a/svdtools/patch.py
+++ b/svdtools/patch.py
@@ -1387,9 +1387,6 @@ def set_field_read_action(self, fspec, action):
             tag = ftag.find("readAction")
             if tag is None:
                 tag = ET.SubElement(ftag, "readAction")
-            elif action == "modify":
-                ftag.remove(tag)
-                return
             tag.text = action
 
     def set_field_modified_write_values(self, fspec, mwv):