diff --git a/htdocs/core/lib/functions.lib.php b/htdocs/core/lib/functions.lib.php
index 74947d9dd71..4eeb5994334 100644
--- a/htdocs/core/lib/functions.lib.php
+++ b/htdocs/core/lib/functions.lib.php
@@ -11685,7 +11685,7 @@ function dolForgeCriteriaCallback($matches)
 		return '';
 	}
 
-	$operator = strtoupper(preg_replace('/[^a-z<>=]/i', '', trim($tmp[1])));
+	$operator = strtoupper(preg_replace('/[^a-z<>=!]/i', '', trim($tmp[1])));
 	if ($operator == 'NOTLIKE') {
 		$operator = 'NOT LIKE';
 	}
diff --git a/test/phpunit/FunctionsLibTest.php b/test/phpunit/FunctionsLibTest.php
index 7508c539208..f398aef1050 100644
--- a/test/phpunit/FunctionsLibTest.php
+++ b/test/phpunit/FunctionsLibTest.php
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ class FunctionsLibTest extends PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase
 		// A real search string
 		$filter='(((statut:=:1) or (entity:in:__AAA__)) and (abc:<:2.0) and (abc:!=:1.23))';
 		$sql = forgeSQLFromUniversalSearchCriteria($filter);
-		$this->assertEquals($sql, ' AND (((statut = 1 or entity IN (__AAA__)) and abc < 2 and abc = 1.23))');
+		$this->assertEquals($sql, ' AND (((statut = 1 or entity IN (__AAA__)) and abc < 2 and abc <> 1.23))');
 
 		$filter="(t.ref:like:'SO-%') or (t.date_creation:<:'20160101') or (t.date_creation:<:'2016-01-01 12:30:00') or (t.nature:is:NULL)";
 		$sql = forgeSQLFromUniversalSearchCriteria($filter);