diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 5cc91e4a0a8..b30314b0762 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -275,8 +275,11 @@ We also build commonjs builds to run in node (for testing with jest or etc.) and
 Thanks goes to these wonderful people ([emoji key](https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/emoji-key)):
 
 <!-- ALL-CONTRIBUTORS-LIST:START - Do not remove or modify this section -->
+
 <!-- prettier-ignore-start -->
+
 <!-- markdownlint-disable -->
+
 <table>
   <tr>
     <td align="center"><a href="http://www.thinkmill.com.au"><img src="https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/872310?v=4" width="80px;" alt=""/><br /><sub><b>Jed Watson</b></sub></a><br /><a href="https://github.com/keystonejs/keystone/commits?author=JedWatson" title="Code">💻</a></td>
@@ -332,7 +335,9 @@ Thanks goes to these wonderful people ([emoji key](https://allcontributors.org/d
 </table>
 
 <!-- markdownlint-enable -->
+
 <!-- prettier-ignore-end -->
+
 <!-- ALL-CONTRIBUTORS-LIST:END -->
 
 This project follows the [all-contributors](https://github.com/all-contributors/all-contributors) specification. Contributions of any kind welcome!
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cbec8357e61..6fe425ac48b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -66,8 +66,11 @@ We'd like to start by thanking all our wonderful contributors:
 ([emoji key](https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/emoji-key)):
 
 <!-- ALL-CONTRIBUTORS-LIST:START - Do not remove or modify this section -->
+
 <!-- prettier-ignore-start -->
+
 <!-- markdownlint-disable -->
+
 <table>
   <tr>
     <td align="center"><a href="http://www.thinkmill.com.au"><img src="https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/872310?v=4" width="80px;" alt=""/><br /><sub><b>Jed Watson</b></sub></a><br /><a href="https://github.com/keystonejs/keystone/commits?author=JedWatson" title="Code">💻</a></td>
@@ -123,7 +126,9 @@ We'd like to start by thanking all our wonderful contributors:
 </table>
 
 <!-- markdownlint-enable -->
+
 <!-- prettier-ignore-end -->
+
 <!-- ALL-CONTRIBUTORS-LIST:END -->
 
 ### Demo Projects
diff --git a/packages/adapter-mongoose/lib/adapter-mongoose.js b/packages/adapter-mongoose/lib/adapter-mongoose.js
index 2026639be36..40ba2691f4f 100644
--- a/packages/adapter-mongoose/lib/adapter-mongoose.js
+++ b/packages/adapter-mongoose/lib/adapter-mongoose.js
@@ -216,35 +216,27 @@ class MongooseListAdapter extends BaseListAdapter {
         args = mergeWhereClause(args, { id: { $in: ids[0][from.fromField] || [] } });
       }
     }
-    function graphQlQueryToMongoJoinQuery(query) {
-      const _query = {
-        ...query.where,
-        ...mapKeyNames(
-          // Grab all the modifiers
-          pick(query, ['search', 'orderBy', 'skip', 'first']),
-          // and prefix with a dollar symbol so they can be picked out by the
-          // query builder tokeniser
-          key => `$${key}`
-        ),
-      };
-
-      return mapKeys(_query, field => {
-        if (getType(field) !== 'Object' || !field.where) {
-          return field;
-        }
-
-        // recurse on object (ie; relationship) types
-        return graphQlQueryToMongoJoinQuery(field);
-      });
-    }
 
+    // Convert the args `where` clauses and modifiers into a data structure
+    // which can be consumed by the queryParser. Modifiers are prefixed with a
+    // $ symbol (e.g. skip => $skip) to be identified by the tokenizer.
+    // `where` keys are removed, and nested queries are handled recursively.
+    // { where: { a: 'A', b: { where: { c: 'C' } } }, skip: 10 }
+    //       => { a: 'A', b: { c: 'C' }, $skip: 10 }
+    const graphQlQueryToMongoJoinQuery = ({ where, ...modifiers }) => ({
+      ...mapKeys(where || {}, whereElement =>
+        getType(whereElement) === 'Object' && whereElement.where
+          ? graphQlQueryToMongoJoinQuery(whereElement) // Recursively traverse relationship fields
+          : whereElement
+      ),
+      ...mapKeyNames(pick(modifiers, ['search', 'orderBy', 'skip', 'first']), key => `$${key}`),
+    });
     let query;
     try {
       query = graphQlQueryToMongoJoinQuery(args);
     } catch (error) {
       return Promise.reject(error);
     }
-
     if (meta) {
       // Order is important here, which is why we do it last (v8 will append the
       // key, and keep them stable)