diff --git a/doc/release_notes.md b/doc/release_notes.md
index a14921cf77..6091866632 100644
--- a/doc/release_notes.md
+++ b/doc/release_notes.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 <!-- Upcoming Release -->
 <!-- ================= -->
 
+* Fix: pass the missing `handle_missing_countries` parameter to the `build_dh_areas` rule, which failed when district heating area data was missing for a country ([#2359](https://github.com/PyPSA/pypsa-eur/issues/2359)).
+
 * Feature: New switches `industry: solid_biomass_for_industry_cc`, `industry: gas_for_industry_cc` and `industry: process_emissions_cc` to disable the carbon capture options for solid biomass for industry, gas for industry and industrial process emissions. All default to `true`, which matches the previous behaviour ([#2357](https://github.com/PyPSA/pypsa-eur/pull/2357)).
 
 * Feature: New option `sector: electrolysis` to allow hydrogen electrolysis to be configurable ([#2358](https://github.com/PyPSA/pypsa-eur/pull/2358)).
diff --git a/rules/build_sector.smk b/rules/build_sector.smk
index a5511870be..e7aae4731a 100755
--- a/rules/build_sector.smk
+++ b/rules/build_sector.smk
@@ -258,7 +258,6 @@ rule build_central_heating_temperature_profiles:
 
 
 rule build_dh_areas:
-    """Builds district heating area shapes and fills in countries missing from the source data."""
     input:
         dh_areas=rules.retrieve_dh_areas.output["dh_areas"],
         onshore_regions=resources("onshore_regions.geojson"),
@@ -270,6 +269,11 @@ rule build_dh_areas:
         benchmarks("build_dh_areas")
     resources:
         mem_mb=2000,
+    """Builds district heating area shapes and fills in countries missing from the source data."""
+    params:
+        handle_missing_countries=config_provider(
+            "sector", "district_heating", "dh_areas", "handle_missing_countries"
+        ),
     script:
         scripts("build_dh_areas.py")