diff --git a/crates/nu-command/src/filters/first.rs b/crates/nu-command/src/filters/first.rs
index 2f4ac233e..34587abfc 100644
--- a/crates/nu-command/src/filters/first.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-command/src/filters/first.rs
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ fn first_helper(
     // the first N elements is covered by `take`
     let return_single_element = rows.is_none();
     let rows_desired: usize = match rows {
+        Some(i) if i < 0 => return Err(ShellError::NeedsPositiveValue(head)),
         Some(x) => x as usize,
         None => 1,
     };
diff --git a/crates/nu-command/tests/commands/first.rs b/crates/nu-command/tests/commands/first.rs
index 620c206f0..4c3e1bc05 100644
--- a/crates/nu-command/tests/commands/first.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-command/tests/commands/first.rs
@@ -92,3 +92,16 @@ fn works_with_binary_list() {
 
     assert_eq!(actual.out, "true");
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn errors_on_negative_rows() {
+    let actual = nu!(
+        cwd: ".", pipeline(
+        r#"
+                [1, 2, 3]
+                | first -10
+            "#
+    ));
+
+    assert!(actual.err.contains("use a positive value"));
+}