diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a01bda2c..6ade6eac 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -821,6 +821,11 @@ The following are some examples of how publishers might use the
 By default, the `rsconnect content search` command will return metadata for ALL
 of the content on a RStudio Connect server, both published and unpublished content.
 
+> **Note:** When using the `--r-version` and `--py-version` flags, users should
+> make sure to quote the arguments to avoid conflicting with your shell. For
+> example, bash would interpret `--py-version >3.0.0` as a shell redirect because of the
+> unquoted `>` character.
+
 ```bash
 # return only published content
 $ rsconnect content search --published
diff --git a/rsconnect/actions_content.py b/rsconnect/actions_content.py
index 2d472e06..c30741de 100644
--- a/rsconnect/actions_content.py
+++ b/rsconnect/actions_content.py
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ def do_filter(item):
                 return compare == 1
             elif version_filter.comp == "<":
                 return compare == -1
-            elif version_filter.comp == "==":
+            elif version_filter.comp in ["=", "=="]:
                 return compare == 0
             elif version_filter.comp == "<=":
                 return compare <= 0
diff --git a/rsconnect/models.py b/rsconnect/models.py
index a0c2c5dc..dce1204b 100644
--- a/rsconnect/models.py
+++ b/rsconnect/models.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from click import ParamType
 from click.types import StringParamType
 
-_version_search_pattern = r"(^[=><]{1,2})(.*)"
+_version_search_pattern = r"(^[=><]{0,2})(.*)"
 _content_guid_pattern = r"([^,]*),?(.*)"
 
 
@@ -310,7 +310,11 @@ def convert(self, value, param, ctx):
                 version_search.comp = m.group(1)
                 version_search.vers = m.group(2)
 
-                if version_search.comp in ["<<", "<>", "><", ">>", "=<", "=>", "="]:
+                # default to == if no comparator was provided
+                if not version_search.comp:
+                    version_search.comp = "=="
+
+                if version_search.comp not in [">", "<", ">=", "<=", "=", "=="]:
                     self.fail("Failed to parse verison filter: %s is not a valid comparitor" % version_search.comp)
 
                 try: