diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Query.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Query.hs
index edc5dc432..daf41bc3a 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Query.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Query.hs
@@ -291,7 +291,8 @@ parseAmountQueryTerm s' =
     '>':'-':s -> (Gt, negate $ readDef err s)
     '=':'-':s -> (Eq, negate $ readDef err s)
     '-':s     -> (Eq, negate $ readDef err s)
-    '<':s     -> (AbsLt, readDef err s)
+    '<':s     -> let n = readDef err s in case n of 0 -> (Lt, 0)
+                                                    _ -> (AbsLt, n)
     '>':s     -> (AbsGt, readDef err s)
     '=':s     -> (AbsEq, readDef err s)
     s         -> (AbsEq, readDef err s)
@@ -301,7 +302,7 @@ parseAmountQueryTerm s' =
 tests_parseAmountQueryTerm = [
   "parseAmountQueryTerm" ~: do
     let s `gives` r = parseAmountQueryTerm s `is` r
-    "<0" `gives` (AbsLt,0) -- would be always false
+    "<0" `gives` (Lt,0) -- special case, AbsLt 0 would be always false
     ">10000.10" `gives` (AbsGt,10000.1)
     "=0.23" `gives` (AbsEq,0.23)
     "0.23" `gives` (AbsEq,0.23)