diff --git a/cut.c b/cut.c
index 72c20bc..40dc250 100644
--- a/cut.c
+++ b/cut.c
@@ -60,8 +60,16 @@ parselist(char *str)
 	if(!(r = malloc(n * sizeof(Range))))
 		eprintf("malloc:");
 	for(s = str; n; n--, s++) {
-		r->min = (*s == '-') ? 1 : strtoul(s, &s, 10);
-		r->max = (*s == '-') ? strtoul(++s, &s, 10) : r->min;
+		if (*s == '-')
+			r->min = 1;
+		else
+			r->min = strtoul(s, &s, 10);
+		if (*s == '-') {
+			s++;
+			r->max = strtoul(s, &s, 10);
+		} else {
+			r->max = r->min;
+		}
 		r->next = NULL;
 		if(!r->min || (r->max && r->max < r->min) || (*s && *s != ','))
 			eprintf("cut: bad list value\n");