diff --git a/src/internal/filters.ts b/src/internal/filters.ts
index e3d4353..546979a 100644
--- a/src/internal/filters.ts
+++ b/src/internal/filters.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ export function FilterValuesOf(filter: FieldFilter): FilterValue[] {
 }
 
 export function parseFilter(searchVal: string): FilterValue {
-  const match = searchVal.match(/([^:]+):(.*)/);
+  const match = searchVal.match(/^:*([^:]+):(.*)/);
   return match ? [match[2], match[1]] : [searchVal, "eq"];
 }
 
diff --git a/src/tests/components/filter_comparisons.test.ts b/src/tests/components/filter_comparisons.test.ts
index 5a205e0..3da91e3 100644
--- a/src/tests/components/filter_comparisons.test.ts
+++ b/src/tests/components/filter_comparisons.test.ts
@@ -60,4 +60,21 @@ describe("Parameters.ExtractFilters - comparisons", () => {
       ),
     ).to.eql({ title: ["//example.com", "http"] });
   });
+
+  it("reads the comparison after the colons a value opens with", () => {
+    expect(
+      Parameters.ExtractFilters(context("filter_title=::is:abc"), meta),
+    ).to.eql({ title: ["abc", "is"] });
+  });
+
+  it("reads a long value without a colon in linear time", () => {
+    const value = "a".repeat(64_000);
+    const start = performance.now();
+    const filters = Parameters.ExtractFilters(
+      context(`filter_title=${value}`),
+      meta,
+    );
+    expect(performance.now() - start).to.be.below(250);
+    expect(filters).to.eql({ title: [value, "eq"] });
+  });
 });