diff --git a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/wrap/SpanSequenceQueryWrapper.java b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/wrap/SpanSequenceQueryWrapper.java
index a8673fc..02fa921 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/wrap/SpanSequenceQueryWrapper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/wrap/SpanSequenceQueryWrapper.java
@@ -567,7 +567,7 @@
         if (this.constraints.size() == 1) {
             DistanceConstraint dc = this.constraints.get(0);
             if (dc.getUnit().equals("w") && dc.getMinDistance() == 1
-                    && dc.getMaxDistance() == 1 && this.isInOrder) {
+                && dc.getMaxDistance() == 1 && !dc.isExclusion() && this.isInOrder) {
                 return false;
             };
         };
diff --git a/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/TestKrillQueryJSON.java b/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/TestKrillQueryJSON.java
index 6c5adda..9627308 100644
--- a/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/TestKrillQueryJSON.java
+++ b/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/TestKrillQueryJSON.java
@@ -356,6 +356,17 @@
                 "focus(1: spanEndsWith(<tokens:s />, {1: tokens:p:V}),sorting)");
     };
 
+    @Test
+    public void queryJSONcosmas21 () throws QueryException {
+        SpanQueryWrapper sqwi = getJsonQuery(
+                getClass().getResource("/queries/cosmas21.json").getFile());
+
+        // die %+w1:1 Gegenwart
+        assertEquals(sqwi.toQuery().toString(),
+                "spanDistance({129: tokens:s:die}, {129: tokens:s:Gegenwart}, [(w[1:1], ordered, excluded)])");
+    };
+
+    
 
     @Test
     public void queryJSONrepetition () throws QueryException {
diff --git a/src/test/resources/queries/cosmas21.json b/src/test/resources/queries/cosmas21.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8a6262c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/queries/cosmas21.json
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+{
+  "context" : "http://ids-mannheim.de/ns/KorAP/json-ld/v0.1/context.jsonld",
+  "query" : {
+    "@type": "koral:group",
+    "distances": [
+      {
+        "@type": "cosmas:distance",
+        "boundary": {
+          "@type": "koral:boundary",
+          "max": 1,
+          "min": 1
+        },
+        "exclude": true,
+        "key": "w"
+      }
+    ],
+    "inOrder": true,
+    "operands": [
+      {
+        "@type": "koral:group",
+        "classOut": 129,
+        "operands": [
+          {
+            "@type": "koral:token",
+            "wrap": {
+              "@type": "koral:term",
+              "foundry": "opennlp",
+              "key": "die",
+              "layer": "orth",
+              "match": "match:eq",
+              "rewrites": [
+                {
+                  "@type": "koral:rewrite",
+                  "operation": "operation:injection",
+                  "scope": "foundry",
+                  "src": "Kustvakt"
+                }
+              ]
+            }
+          }
+        ],
+        "operation": "operation:class"
+      },
+      {
+        "@type": "koral:group",
+        "classOut": 129,
+        "operands": [
+          {
+            "@type": "koral:token",
+            "wrap": {
+              "@type": "koral:term",
+              "foundry": "opennlp",
+              "key": "Gegenwart",
+              "layer": "orth",
+              "match": "match:eq",
+              "rewrites": [
+                {
+                  "@type": "koral:rewrite",
+                  "operation": "operation:injection",
+                  "scope": "foundry",
+                  "src": "Kustvakt"
+                }
+              ]
+            }
+          }
+        ],
+        "operation": "operation:class"
+      }
+    ],
+    "operation": "operation:sequence"
+  }
+}