diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 522c0e06a..60bdc7745 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-# v1.10.3-alpha0
+# v1.10.3-alpha1
 
 * Add `int.of_type(..)` to convert an ID to a stored intance, pr #466.
+* Improve error message when typing `f()!=x`, ambiguous operator, pr #468.
 
 # v1.10.2
 
diff --git a/inc/cleri/parse.h b/inc/cleri/parse.h
index 49dd397f0..019af035e 100644
--- a/inc/cleri/parse.h
+++ b/inc/cleri/parse.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ cleri_parse_t * cleri_parse2(
     int flags);
 void cleri_parse_free(cleri_parse_t * pr);
 void cleri_parse_expect_start(cleri_parse_t * pr);
+void cleri_parse_line_pos(cleri_parse_t * pr, size_t * line, size_t * pos);
 int cleri_parse_strn(
     char * s,
     size_t n,
diff --git a/inc/ti/version.h b/inc/ti/version.h
index 71a55ffa4..77fd11506 100644
--- a/inc/ti/version.h
+++ b/inc/ti/version.h
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
  *  "-rc0"
  *  ""
  */
-#define TI_VERSION_PRE_RELEASE "-alpha0"
+#define TI_VERSION_PRE_RELEASE "-alpha1"
 
 #define TI_MAINTAINER \
     "Jeroen van der Heijden <jeroen@cesbit.com>"
diff --git a/itest/test_advanced.py b/itest/test_advanced.py
index 733cc50fe..e2c202b7e 100755
--- a/itest/test_advanced.py
+++ b/itest/test_advanced.py
@@ -3174,6 +3174,13 @@ async def test_wse_shortcut_str(self, client: Client):
         """)
         self.assertEqual(res, "||nse()!=0&&wse()!=0")
 
+        # pr #468
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(
+                SyntaxError,
+                r"error at line 1, position 6, ambiguous operator `!=`, "
+                r"add a space between `\)` and `!=` to resolve"):
+            await client.query('test()!=0;')
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     run_test(TestAdvanced())
diff --git a/src/cleri/parse.c b/src/cleri/parse.c
index 27f082eb1..4447d5231 100644
--- a/src/cleri/parse.c
+++ b/src/cleri/parse.c
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ void cleri_parse_expect_start(cleri_parse_t * pr)
     pr->expect = pr->expecting->required;
 }
 
-static void parse__line_pos(cleri_parse_t * pr, size_t * line, size_t * pos)
+void cleri_parse_line_pos(cleri_parse_t * pr, size_t * line, size_t * pos)
 {
     size_t n = pr->pos;
     const char * pt = pr->str;
@@ -210,10 +210,12 @@ int cleri_parse_strn(
     {
         return snprintf(s, n, "parsed successfully");
     }
+
     /* make sure expecting is at start */
     cleri_parse_expect_start(pr);
 
-    parse__line_pos(pr, &line, &pos);
+    /* get line and position */
+    cleri_parse_line_pos(pr, &line, &pos);
 
     rc = snprintf(s, n, "error at line %zu, position %zu", line, pos);
     if (rc < 0)
diff --git a/src/ti/query.c b/src/ti/query.c
index 21104b3a3..cebaed634 100644
--- a/src/ti/query.c
+++ b/src/ti/query.c
@@ -526,8 +526,35 @@ static inline int ti_query_investigate(ti_query_t * query, ex_t * e)
     return e->nr;
 }
 
+/* improve error message, pr #468 */
+static int query__test_ambiguous_ne(ti_query_t * query, ex_t * e)
+{
+    cleri_parse_t * pr = query->with.parseres;
+    size_t pos = pr->pos;
+    const char * str = pr->str;
+    if (!pr->is_valid &&
+        pos >= 4 &&
+        str[pos] == '=' &&
+        str[pos-1] == '!' &&
+        str[pos-2] == ')')
+    {
+        size_t line, pos;
+        cleri_parse_expect_start(pr);
+        cleri_parse_line_pos(pr, &line, &pos);
+        ex_set(e, EX_SYNTAX_ERROR,
+            "error at line %zu, position %zu, ambiguous operator `!=`, "
+            "add a space between `)` and `!=` to resolve",
+            line, pos-1);
+        return e->nr;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
 static int query__syntax_err(ti_query_t * query, ex_t * e)
 {
+    if (query__test_ambiguous_ne(query, e))
+        return e->nr;
+
     int i = cleri_parse_strn(
             e->msg,
             EX_MAX_SZ,