diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index b147ddfdf..01a4ee2aa 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -203,6 +203,8 @@
    to Matt Kraai).
  + Fixed bug #831, which prevented some date fields from being properly parsed.
  + Fixed bug #835, which prevented hierarchical projects from being recognized.
+ + Fixed bug #836, which preserves numeric arguments as-is (thanks to Matt Kraai
+   for the patch).
  + Fixed bug #839, which caused problems when recurrence frequencies of '1m'
    were used.  This is an obsolete form, and should now be '1mo' (thanks to
    Gour D).
diff --git a/src/A3.cpp b/src/A3.cpp
index 0840f324c..3cb4c67b5 100644
--- a/src/A3.cpp
+++ b/src/A3.cpp
@@ -686,7 +686,6 @@ const A3 A3::tokenize (const A3& input) const
 
   std::string s;
   int i;
-  double d;
   time_t t;
   while (! n.depleted ())
   {
@@ -815,9 +814,9 @@ const A3 A3::tokenize (const A3& input) const
         }
       }
 
-      else if (is_number (n, d))
+      else if (is_number (n, s))
       {
-        output.push_back (Arg (format (d), Arg::type_number, Arg::cat_literal));
+        output.push_back (Arg (s, Arg::type_number, Arg::cat_literal));
         if (found_sequence)
           found_something_after_sequence = true;
       }
@@ -1699,10 +1698,10 @@ bool A3::is_tag (Nibbler& n, std::string& result)
 // <number> followed by either: \0, ), +, -, *, /, ' '.
 //
 // This prevents the interpretation of '3M' as a number.
-bool A3::is_number (Nibbler& n, double& d)
+bool A3::is_number (Nibbler& n, std::string& result)
 {
   n.save ();
-  if (n.getNumber (d))
+  if (n.getNumber (result))
   {
     char next = n.next ();
     if (next == '\0' ||
diff --git a/src/A3.h b/src/A3.h
index 516bf4c2f..a90b144fa 100644
--- a/src/A3.h
+++ b/src/A3.h
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public:
   static bool is_id (Nibbler&, std::string&);
   static bool is_uuid (Nibbler&, std::string&);
   static bool is_tag (Nibbler&, std::string&);
-  static bool is_number (Nibbler&, double&);
+  static bool is_number (Nibbler&, std::string&);
   static bool is_integer (Nibbler&, int&);
   static bool is_operator (std::vector <std::string>&, Nibbler&, std::string&);
 
diff --git a/src/Nibbler.cpp b/src/Nibbler.cpp
index 00c9833a5..a30f6efed 100644
--- a/src/Nibbler.cpp
+++ b/src/Nibbler.cpp
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ bool Nibbler::getUnsignedInt (int& result)
 // e:
 //   e|E (+|-)?
 // 
-bool Nibbler::getNumber (double& result)
+bool Nibbler::getNumber (std::string& result)
 {
   std::string::size_type i = _cursor;
 
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ bool Nibbler::getNumber (double& result)
         while (i < _length && isdigit (_input[i]))
           ++i;
 
-        result = strtof (_input.substr (_cursor, i - _cursor).c_str (), NULL);
+        result = _input.substr (_cursor, i - _cursor);
         _cursor = i;
         return true;
       }
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ bool Nibbler::getNumber (double& result)
       return false;
     }
 
-    result = strtof (_input.substr (_cursor, i - _cursor).c_str (), NULL);
+    result = _input.substr (_cursor, i - _cursor);
     _cursor = i;
     return true;
   }
@@ -433,6 +433,20 @@ bool Nibbler::getNumber (double& result)
   return false;
 }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+bool Nibbler::getNumber (double &result)
+{
+  bool isnumber;
+  std::string s;
+
+  isnumber = getNumber (s);
+  if (isnumber)
+  {
+    result = strtof (s.c_str (), NULL);
+  }
+  return isnumber;
+}
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // number:
 //   int frac? exp?
diff --git a/src/Nibbler.h b/src/Nibbler.h
index 5bef16fde..1919d653c 100644
--- a/src/Nibbler.h
+++ b/src/Nibbler.h
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ public:
   bool getInt (int&);
   bool getHex (int&);
   bool getUnsignedInt (int&);
+  bool getNumber (std::string&);
   bool getNumber (double&);
   bool getUnsignedNumber (double&);
   bool getLiteral (const std::string&);