diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e8ca985..52ae3e5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -185,6 +185,10 @@ The following subroutines are available out of the box.
 
 `previous` subroutine selects the preceding sibling.
 
+|Parameter name|Description|Default|
+|---|---|---|
+|CSS selector|CSS selector used to select an element.|N/A|
+
 Example:
 
 ```html
diff --git a/src/evaluators/cheerioEvaluator.js b/src/evaluators/cheerioEvaluator.js
index b19459d..f6fe8b4 100644
--- a/src/evaluators/cheerioEvaluator.js
+++ b/src/evaluators/cheerioEvaluator.js
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ export default (): EvaluatorType => {
       .root();
   };
 
-  const previous = (node) => {
-    return node.prev();
+  const previous = (node, selector) => {
+    return node.prev(selector);
   };
 
   const querySelectorAll = (node, selector) => {
diff --git a/test/surgeon/evaluators/cheerioEvaluator/previous.js b/test/surgeon/evaluators/cheerioEvaluator/previous.js
index 280485f..c43e926 100644
--- a/test/surgeon/evaluators/cheerioEvaluator/previous.js
+++ b/test/surgeon/evaluators/cheerioEvaluator/previous.js
@@ -26,3 +26,29 @@ test('returns the previous node', (t) => {
 
   t.true(previousNode.text() === '1');
 });
+
+test('returns previous node matching the selector', (t) => {
+  const {
+    previous,
+    parseDocument,
+    querySelectorAll
+  } = cheerioEvaluator();
+
+  const body = `
+    <ul>
+      <li class='foo'>0</li>
+      <li class='foo'>1</li>
+      <li class='bar'>2</li>
+      <li class='baz'>3</li>
+    </ul>
+  `;
+
+  const document = parseDocument(body);
+  const nodes = querySelectorAll(document, 'li');
+
+  t.true(nodes.length === 4);
+
+  const previousNode = previous(nodes[2], '.foo');
+
+  t.true(previousNode.text() === '1');
+});