diff --git a/plugins/check_snmp.c b/plugins/check_snmp.c
index 2d9861bc..0ddfb942 100644
--- a/plugins/check_snmp.c
+++ b/plugins/check_snmp.c
@@ -144,6 +144,25 @@ double previous_value[MAX_OIDS];
 int perf_labels = 1;
 
 
+static char *fix_snmp_range(char *th)
+{
+	double left, right;
+	char *colon, *ret;
+	if (!(colon = strchr(th, ':')))
+		return th;
+	*colon = 0;
+
+	left = strtod(th, NULL);
+	right = strtod(colon + 1, NULL);
+	if (right >= left) {
+		return th;
+	}
+	ret = malloc(strlen(th) + strlen(colon + 1) + 2);
+	sprintf(ret, "@%s:%s", colon + 1, th);
+	free(th);
+	return ret;
+}
+
 int
 main (int argc, char **argv)
 {
@@ -228,6 +247,10 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 	for (i=0; i<numoids; i++) {
 		char *w = th_warn ? strndup(th_warn, strcspn(th_warn, ",")) : NULL;
 		char *c = th_crit ? strndup(th_crit, strcspn(th_crit, ",")) : NULL;
+		/* translate "2:1" to "@1:2" for backwards compatibility */
+		w = w ? fix_snmp_range(w) : NULL;
+		c = c ? fix_snmp_range(c) : NULL;
+
 		/* Skip empty thresholds, while avoiding segfault */
 		set_thresholds(&thlds[i],
 		               w ? strpbrk(w, NP_THRESHOLDS_CHARS) : NULL,