diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Defaults.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Defaults.scala
index 5dc348471..0c0e69821 100755
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Defaults.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Defaults.scala
@@ -566,11 +566,18 @@ object Defaults extends BuildCommon {
 
   def selectedFilter(args: Seq[String]): Seq[String => Boolean] =
     {
-      val filters = args map GlobFilter.apply
-      if (filters.isEmpty)
+      val (excludeArgs, includeArgs) = args.partition(s => s.startsWith("-"))
+
+      val includeFilters = includeArgs map GlobFilter.apply
+      val excludeFilters = excludeArgs.map(_.substring(1)).map(GlobFilter.apply)
+
+      if (includeFilters.isEmpty && excludeArgs.isEmpty)
         Seq(const(true))
-      else
-        filters.map { f => (s: String) => f accept s }
+      else if (includeFilters.isEmpty) {
+        excludeFilters.map { f => (s: String) => !f.accept(s) }
+      } else {
+        includeFilters.map { f => (s: String) => (f.accept(s) && !excludeFilters.exists(x => x.accept(s))) }
+      }
     }
   def detectTests: Initialize[Task[Seq[TestDefinition]]] = (loadedTestFrameworks, compile, streams) map { (frameworkMap, analysis, s) =>
     Tests.discover(frameworkMap.values.toList, analysis, s.log)._1
@@ -892,7 +899,7 @@ object Defaults extends BuildCommon {
       selectTests ~ options
     }
 
-  def distinctParser(exs: Set[String], raw: Boolean): Parser[Seq[String]] =
+  private def distinctParser(exs: Set[String], raw: Boolean): Parser[Seq[String]] =
     {
       import DefaultParsers._
       val base = token(Space) ~> token(NotSpace - "--" examples exs)
diff --git a/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/test-exclude/project/Build.scala b/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/test-exclude/project/Build.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7f2f30f93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/test-exclude/project/Build.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import sbt._
+import Keys._
+import Defaults._
+
+object B extends Build {
+	lazy val root = Project("root", file("."), settings = defaultSettings ++ Seq(
+		libraryDependencies += "org.scalatest" %% "scalatest" % "1.9.1" % "test",
+		parallelExecution in test := false
+	))
+}
diff --git a/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/test-exclude/src/test/scala/Test.scala b/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/test-exclude/src/test/scala/Test.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c7b0235e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/test-exclude/src/test/scala/Test.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import java.io.File
+import org.scalatest.FlatSpec
+import org.scalatest.matchers.ShouldMatchers
+
+class Test1 extends FlatSpec with ShouldMatchers {
+  "a test" should "pass" in {
+    new File("target/Test1.run").createNewFile()
+  }
+}
+
+class Test2 extends FlatSpec with ShouldMatchers {
+  "a test" should "pass" in {
+    new File("target/Test2.run").createNewFile()
+  }
+}
diff --git a/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/test-exclude/test b/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/test-exclude/test
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ec11c6a39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt/src/sbt-test/tests/test-exclude/test
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# Test1 & Test2 create files Test1.run & Test2.run respectively
+
+# no parameters
+> test-only
+$ exists target/Test1.run
+$ exists target/Test2.run
+
+$ delete target/Test1.run
+$ delete target/Test2.run
+
+
+# with explicit match
+> test-only Test1*
+$ exists target/Test1.run
+-$ exists target/Test2.run
+
+$ delete target/Test1.run
+
+
+# with explicit match and exclusion
+> test-only Test* -Test1
+-$ exists target/Test1.run
+$ exists target/Test2.run
+
+$ delete target/Test2.run
+
+
+# with explicit match and exclusion
+> test-only Test* -Test2
+$ exists target/Test1.run
+-$ exists target/Test2.run
+
+$ delete target/Test1.run
+
+
+# with only exclusion
+> test-only -Test2
+$ exists target/Test1.run
+-$ exists target/Test2.run
+
+$ delete target/Test1.run
+
+
+# with only exclusion
+> test-only -Test1
+-$ exists target/Test1.run
+$ exists target/Test2.run
+
+$ delete target/Test2.run
+
+
+# with only glob exclusion
+> test-only -Test*
+-$ exists target/Test1.run
+-$ exists target/Test2.run