diff --git a/lib/filters/filter.js b/lib/filters/filter.js
index 1956c14..4ebc39b 100644
--- a/lib/filters/filter.js
+++ b/lib/filters/filter.js
@@ -58,9 +58,7 @@ Filter.prototype.toBer = function (ber) {
 };
 
 
-/*
- * Test a rule against one or more values.
- */
+// Test a rule against one or more values.
 Filter.multi_test = function (rule, value) {
   if (Array.isArray(value)) {
     var response = false;
diff --git a/lib/filters/index.js b/lib/filters/index.js
index fba58a6..476396f 100644
--- a/lib/filters/index.js
+++ b/lib/filters/index.js
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ function _buildFilterTree(expr) {
       // substrings fall into the equality bin in the
       // switch above so we need more processing here
       if (tree.tag === 'equalityMatch') {
-        if (tree.value.length === 0) {
+        if (tree.value === '*') {
           tree.tag = 'present';
         } else {
 
diff --git a/test/filters/parse.test.js b/test/filters/parse.test.js
index c0dfbe4..6e7ab8c 100644
--- a/test/filters/parse.test.js
+++ b/test/filters/parse.test.js
@@ -113,3 +113,13 @@ test('GH-53 NotFilter', function (t) {
   t.equal(f.filters[1].filter.value, 'shadowAccount');
   t.end();
 });
+
+
+test('presence filter', function (t) {
+  var str = '(foo=*)';
+  var f = parse(str);
+  t.ok(f);
+  t.equal(f.type, 'present');
+  t.equal(f.attribute, 'foo');
+  t.end();
+});