diff --git a/pd/nw/dialog_gatom.html b/pd/nw/dialog_gatom.html
index d7732a3158de9df2b677825c6e2765c728c8f4bc..85d1e7732602b793cbb4470990db7bd459541250 100644
--- a/pd/nw/dialog_gatom.html
+++ b/pd/nw/dialog_gatom.html
@@ -196,8 +196,8 @@ function gatom_escape(str) {
 }
 
 function gatom_unescape(str) {
-    if (str === "-") {
-        str = "";
+    if (str.slice(0,1) === "-") {
+        str = str.slice(1);
     } else {
         var arr = str.split("");
         for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {