diff --git a/lua/nvim-treesitter/query.lua b/lua/nvim-treesitter/query.lua
index 7009e9f2b..bad1c27e6 100644
--- a/lua/nvim-treesitter/query.lua
+++ b/lua/nvim-treesitter/query.lua
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ function M.get_capture_matches(bufnr, captures, query_group, root, lang)
   end
   local strip_captures = {}
   for i, capture in ipairs(captures) do
-    if not capture:sub(1, 1) == "@" then
+    if capture:sub(1, 1) ~= "@" then
       error 'Captures must start with "@"'
       return
     end