diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index 2d385ac5c..aa6914eb5 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -182,3 +182,4 @@ suggestions:
   Friedrich Heusler
   Ben Armstrong
   XTaran
+  John West
diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index c581984d1..42af439c8 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ Bugs
  + #1263 The 'waiting' report properly lists only pending tasks with a wait date
    (thanks to Fidel Mato).
  + #1270 The 'undo' command is now properly removing backlog entries.
+ + #1273 Query with negative relative date differs greatly from absolute date
+   in past (thanks to John West).
  + #1279 Assorted corrections to the task-ref.pdf document (thanks to Benjamin
    Weber).
  + #1286 Cannot use "sow", "som", etc in "entry.after", "end.after" filters
diff --git a/src/Duration.cpp b/src/Duration.cpp
index 57246dd98..2919e861d 100644
--- a/src/Duration.cpp
+++ b/src/Duration.cpp
@@ -368,6 +368,8 @@ bool Duration::valid (const std::string& input)
   Nibbler n (lower_input);
   n.getNumber (value);
 
+  // Negative values are valid, but do not need to complicate the validation
+  // check.
   if (value < 0.0)
     value = -value;
 
diff --git a/src/E9.cpp b/src/E9.cpp
index 7464ebd4c..5cc4bcd88 100644
--- a/src/E9.cpp
+++ b/src/E9.cpp
@@ -185,7 +185,10 @@ void E9::eval (const Task& task, std::vector <Arg>& value_stack)
           {
             Duration dur (operand._raw);
             Date now;
-            now += (int)(time_t) dur;
+            if (dur.negative ())
+              now -= (int)(time_t) dur;
+            else
+              now += (int)(time_t) dur;
             operand._value  = now.toEpochString ();
           }
           else
diff --git a/src/commands/Command.cpp b/src/commands/Command.cpp
index a713691b8..6bd27c00f 100644
--- a/src/commands/Command.cpp
+++ b/src/commands/Command.cpp
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ void Command::modify_task (
   std::string& description)
 {
   // Utilize Task::modify
-  task.modify(arguments, description);
+  task.modify (arguments, description);
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/test/duration.t.cpp b/test/duration.t.cpp
index 374c8563e..7c9097b43 100644
--- a/test/duration.t.cpp
+++ b/test/duration.t.cpp
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ int convertDuration (const std::string& input)
 
 int main (int argc, char** argv)
 {
-  UnitTest t (644);
+  UnitTest t (646);
 
   // Ensure environment has no influence.
   unsetenv ("TASKDATA");
@@ -728,6 +728,11 @@ int main (int argc, char** argv)
   t.is (convertDuration ("10d"),          10, "valid duration 10d");
 
   t.is (convertDuration ("-"),             0, "valid duration -");
+
+  d = Duration ("-4d");
+  t.is ((time_t)d, 4*86400, "-4d == 4*86400");
+  t.ok (d.negative (),      "-4d == negative");
+
   try
   {
     Duration left, right;