diff --git a/docs/src/content/docs/pattern-syntax/matching-behavior.md b/docs/src/content/docs/pattern-syntax/matching-behavior.md
index fefe503..ad394fe 100644
--- a/docs/src/content/docs/pattern-syntax/matching-behavior.md
+++ b/docs/src/content/docs/pattern-syntax/matching-behavior.md
@@ -82,6 +82,18 @@ Negation patterns where all alternatives start with `-` also use order-independe
 | `find . -delete`           | Does not match |
 | `find -fprint output .`    | Does not match |
 
+This also works with `=`-joined flags. For example, `!--pre` rejects both `--pre value` (space-separated) and `--pre=value` (`=`-joined):
+
+```yaml
+- allow: 'rg !--pre *'
+```
+
+| Command                  | Result         |
+| ------------------------ | -------------- |
+| `rg pattern file.txt`    | Matches        |
+| `rg --pre pdftotext pat` | Does not match |
+| `rg --pre=pdftotext pat` | Does not match |
+
 ### Non-flag Tokens are Position-dependent
 
 Tokens that do not start with `-` are matched **in order**:
diff --git a/src/rules/pattern_matcher.rs b/src/rules/pattern_matcher.rs
index 54956c7..f7a77e3 100644
--- a/src/rules/pattern_matcher.rs
+++ b/src/rules/pattern_matcher.rs
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ fn match_tokens_core<'a>(
             let negation_passed = if is_flag_only_negation(inner) {
                 !cmd_tokens
                     .iter()
-                    .any(|t| match_single_token(inner, t, definitions))
+                    .any(|t| match_flag_token_with_equals(inner, t, definitions))
             } else {
                 !match_single_token(inner, cmd_tokens[0], definitions)
             };
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@ fn extract_placeholder_all<'a>(
             let negation_passed = if is_flag_only_negation(inner) {
                 !cmd_tokens
                     .iter()
-                    .any(|t| match_single_token(inner, t, definitions))
+                    .any(|t| match_flag_token_with_equals(inner, t, definitions))
             } else {
                 !match_single_token(inner, cmd_tokens[0], definitions)
             };
@@ -837,6 +837,29 @@ fn is_flag_only_negation(inner: &PatternToken) -> bool {
     }
 }
 
+/// Like [`match_single_token`] but also matches the flag portion of
+/// `=`-joined command tokens (e.g. `--pre=pdftotext` matches pattern `--pre`).
+/// This is used for flag-only negation so that `\!--pre` correctly rejects
+/// `--pre=value` in addition to the space-separated `--pre value` form.
+fn match_flag_token_with_equals(
+    pattern: &PatternToken,
+    cmd_token: &str,
+    definitions: &Definitions,
+) -> bool {
+    if match_single_token(pattern, cmd_token, definitions) {
+        return true;
+    }
+    // If the command token contains `=` and the flag part starts with `-`,
+    // try matching only the flag portion before `=`.
+    if let Some(eq_pos) = cmd_token.find('=') {
+        let flag_part = &cmd_token[..eq_pos];
+        if flag_part.starts_with('-') {
+            return match_single_token(pattern, flag_part, definitions);
+        }
+    }
+    false
+}
+
 /// Remove elements at the given indices from a slice, returning a new Vec.
 fn remove_indices<'a>(tokens: &[&'a str], indices: &[usize]) -> Vec<&'a str> {
     tokens
@@ -988,6 +1011,23 @@ mod tests {
         "find . -type f -name foo",
         true
     )]
+    // Flag-only negation with `=`-joined tokens
+    #[case::flag_negation_rejects_equals_form("rg !--pre *", "rg --pre=pdftotext pattern", false)]
+    #[case::flag_negation_allows_different_flag_equals(
+        "rg !--pre *",
+        "rg --color=always pattern",
+        true
+    )]
+    #[case::flag_negation_alt_rejects_equals_form(
+        "sort !-o|--output|--compress-program *",
+        "sort --output=result.txt file.txt",
+        false
+    )]
+    #[case::flag_negation_alt_allows_equals_different_flag(
+        "sort !-o|--output|--compress-program *",
+        "sort --reverse=true file.txt",
+        true
+    )]
     fn negation_matching(
         #[case] pattern_str: &str,
         #[case] command_str: &str,
diff --git a/tests/integration/config_to_rule_evaluation.rs b/tests/integration/config_to_rule_evaluation.rs
index 6790bd7..e28f986 100644
--- a/tests/integration/config_to_rule_evaluation.rs
+++ b/tests/integration/config_to_rule_evaluation.rs
@@ -955,3 +955,48 @@ fn flag_negation_order_independent(
     let result = evaluate_command(&config, command, &empty_context).unwrap();
     expected(&result.action);
 }
+
+// ========================================
+// Flag-only negation with `=`-joined tokens
+// ========================================
+
+#[rstest]
+#[case::equals_form_rejected(
+    "rg --pre=pdftotext pattern",
+    assert_default as ActionAssertion,
+)]
+#[case::space_form_rejected(
+    "rg --pre pdftotext pattern",
+    assert_default as ActionAssertion,
+)]
+#[case::different_flag_equals_allowed(
+    "rg --color=always pattern",
+    assert_allow as ActionAssertion,
+)]
+#[case::no_flag_allowed(
+    "rg pattern file.txt",
+    assert_allow as ActionAssertion,
+)]
+#[case::alt_negation_equals_rejected(
+    "sort --output=result.txt file.txt",
+    assert_default as ActionAssertion,
+)]
+#[case::alt_negation_equals_different_flag_allowed(
+    "sort --reverse file.txt",
+    assert_allow as ActionAssertion,
+)]
+fn flag_negation_equals_form(
+    #[case] command: &str,
+    #[case] expected: ActionAssertion,
+    empty_context: EvalContext,
+) {
+    let config = parse_config(indoc! {"
+        rules:
+          - allow: 'rg !--pre *'
+          - allow: 'sort !-o|--output|--compress-program *'
+    "})
+    .unwrap();
+
+    let result = evaluate_command(&config, command, &empty_context).unwrap();
+    expected(&result.action);
+}