diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index e7c50977fe3d..646295cd9990 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ our $Float_int	= qr{(?i)[0-9]+e-?[0-9]+[fl]?};
 our $Float	= qr{$Float_hex|$Float_dec|$Float_int};
 our $Constant	= qr{$Float|$Binary|$Octal|$Hex|$Int};
 our $Assignment	= qr{\*\=|/=|%=|\+=|-=|<<=|>>=|&=|\^=|\|=|=};
-our $Compare    = qr{<=|>=|==|!=|<|>};
+our $Compare    = qr{<=|>=|==|!=|<|(?<!-)>};
 our $Arithmetic = qr{\+|-|\*|\/|%};
 our $Operators	= qr{
 			<=|>=|==|!=|