A self-piercing rivet setting machine (1) comprises a C-shaped arm (5) and a receiver section (17) disposed at one end of the C-shaped arm (5) to receive a self-piercing rivet fed from a feeder (14). The receiver section (17) has a rivet-reach detection sensor (23) to detect presence or absence of a self-piercing rivet in a driving chamber (21) therein. If the rivet-reach detection sensor (23) detects absence of any self-piercing rivet in the driving chamber (21), the sensor (23) outputs a signal to prevent a punch from being driven.
