diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 483cf9792..47fd50286 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ## 1.8.1 / 2017-10-19
 
-* [BUGFIX] Apply external labels to remote read endpoint
+* [BUGFIX] Correctly handle external labels on remote read endpoint
 
 ## 1.8.0 / 2017-10-06
 
diff --git a/web/api/v1/api.go b/web/api/v1/api.go
index b8de72ebc..649c08f33 100644
--- a/web/api/v1/api.go
+++ b/web/api/v1/api.go
@@ -486,7 +486,26 @@ func (api *API) remoteRead(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
 			return
 		}
-		iters, err := querier.QueryRange(r.Context(), from, through, matchers...)
+		// Change equality matchers which match external labels
+		// to a matcher that looks for an empty label,
+		// as that label should not be present in the storage.
+		externalLabels := api.config().GlobalConfig.ExternalLabels.Clone()
+		filteredMatchers := make([]*metric.LabelMatcher, 0, len(matchers))
+		for _, m := range matchers {
+			value := externalLabels[m.Name]
+			if m.Type == metric.Equal && value == m.Value {
+				matcher, err := metric.NewLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, m.Name, "")
+				if err != nil {
+					http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
+					return
+				}
+				filteredMatchers = append(filteredMatchers, matcher)
+			} else {
+				filteredMatchers = append(filteredMatchers, m)
+			}
+		}
+
+		iters, err := querier.QueryRange(r.Context(), from, through, filteredMatchers...)
 		if err != nil {
 			http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
 			return
@@ -496,7 +515,6 @@ func (api *API) remoteRead(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			OldestInclusive: from,
 			NewestInclusive: through,
 		}))
-		externalLabels := api.config().GlobalConfig.ExternalLabels.Clone()
 		for _, ts := range resp.Results[i].Timeseries {
 			globalUsed := map[string]struct{}{}
 			for _, l := range ts.Labels {
diff --git a/web/api/v1/api_test.go b/web/api/v1/api_test.go
index 6b5e9b033..8be5e8496 100644
--- a/web/api/v1/api_test.go
+++ b/web/api/v1/api_test.go
@@ -560,6 +560,7 @@ func TestReadEndpoint(t *testing.T) {
 					ExternalLabels: model.LabelSet{
 						"baz": "a",
 						"b":   "c",
+						"d":   "e",
 					},
 				},
 			}
@@ -567,11 +568,15 @@ func TestReadEndpoint(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Encode the request.
-	matcher, err := metric.NewLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, "__name__", "test_metric1")
+	matcher1, err := metric.NewLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, "__name__", "test_metric1")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	query, err := remote.ToQuery(0, 1, metric.LabelMatchers{matcher})
+	matcher2, err := metric.NewLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, "d", "e")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	query, err := remote.ToQuery(0, 1, metric.LabelMatchers{matcher1, matcher2})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -611,7 +616,7 @@ func TestReadEndpoint(t *testing.T) {
 	result := remote.FromQueryResult(resp.Results[0])
 	expected := &model.Matrix{
 		&model.SampleStream{
-			Metric: model.Metric{"__name__": "test_metric1", "b": "c", "baz": "qux", "foo": "bar"},
+			Metric: model.Metric{"__name__": "test_metric1", "b": "c", "d": "e", "baz": "qux", "foo": "bar"},
 			Values: []model.SamplePair{model.SamplePair{Value: 1, Timestamp: 0}},
 		},
 	}