Does this workaround resolve the issue for the version of Chef you are using:

http://tickets.opscode.com/browse/CHEF-3218?focusedCommentId=31842&page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel#comment-31842

We can also consider a depends version requirement on chef-client if there are no suitable workarounds.