diff --git a/engine/inc/C4ValueList.h b/engine/inc/C4ValueList.h
index c6c452454..a04b70be9 100644
--- a/engine/inc/C4ValueList.h
+++ b/engine/inc/C4ValueList.h
@@ -44,7 +44,15 @@ public:
 
 	void Sort(class C4SortObject &rSort);
 
-	const C4Value &GetItem(int32_t iElem) const { return Inside<int32_t>(iElem, 0, iSize-1) ? pData[iElem] : C4VNull; }
+	const C4Value &GetItem(int32_t iElem) const
+	{
+		if (-iSize <= iElem && iElem < 0)
+			return pData[iSize + iElem];
+		else if (0 <= iElem && iElem < iSize)
+			return pData[iElem];
+		else
+			return C4VNull;
+	}
 	C4Value &GetItem(int32_t iElem);
 
 	C4Value operator[](int32_t iElem) const { return GetItem(iElem); }
diff --git a/engine/src/C4ValueList.cpp b/engine/src/C4ValueList.cpp
index 32160658b..82726fda4 100644
--- a/engine/src/C4ValueList.cpp
+++ b/engine/src/C4ValueList.cpp
@@ -106,8 +106,11 @@ void C4ValueList::Sort(class C4SortObject &rSort)
 
 C4Value &C4ValueList::GetItem(int32_t iElem)
 {
-	if(iElem < 0) iElem = 0;
-	if(iElem >= iSize && iElem < MaxSize) this->SetSize(iElem + 1);
+	if(iElem < -iSize)
+		throw new C4AulExecError(NULL,"invalid subscript");
+	else if(iElem < 0)
+		iElem = iSize + iElem;
+	else if(iElem >= iSize && iElem < MaxSize) this->SetSize(iElem + 1);
 	// out-of-memory? This might not be catched, but it's better than a segfault
 	if(iElem >= iSize)
 		throw new C4AulExecError(NULL,"out of memory");