diff --git a/kernelci/cli/base_api.py b/kernelci/cli/base_api.py
index 8a066b6dd2..5ab25b02f7 100644
--- a/kernelci/cli/base_api.py
+++ b/kernelci/cli/base_api.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 import abc
 import json
+import re
 
 import kernelci.api
 from .base import Command, Args, catch_http_error
@@ -63,12 +64,28 @@ class AttributesCommand(APICommand):
         {
             'name': 'attributes',
             'nargs': '*',
-            'help': "Attributes in name=value format",
+            'help': "Attributes in name=value format, where = is OPERATOR and can be one of: >, <, >=, <=, =",
         },
     ]
 
     @classmethod
     def _split_attributes(cls, attributes):
-        return dict(
-            tuple(attr.split('=')) for attr in attributes
-        ) if attributes else {}
+        rval = {}
+        for attribute in attributes:
+            pattern = r'^(\w+)([!=<>]+)(\w+)$'
+            match = re.match(pattern, attribute)
+            if match:
+                attribute, operator, value = match.groups()
+                # if operator is >= then append to attribute '__gte' suffix
+                # and so on
+                switch = {
+                    '>': '__gt',
+                    '<': '__lt',
+                    '>=': '__gte',
+                    '<=': '__lte',
+                }
+                if operator in switch:
+                    attribute += switch[operator]
+                rval[attribute] = value
+
+        return rval