diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/template_dialog.py b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/template_dialog.py
index c51ead8373..fc8a528830 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/template_dialog.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/template_dialog.py
@@ -197,8 +197,7 @@ class TemplateHighlighter(QSyntaxHighlighter):
 
 class TemplateDialog(QDialog, Ui_TemplateDialog):
 
-    def __init__(self, parent, text, mi=None, fm=None, color_field=None,
-                 rule_kind='color'):
+    def __init__(self, parent, text, mi=None, fm=None, color_field=None):
         QDialog.__init__(self, parent)
         Ui_TemplateDialog.__init__(self)
         self.setupUi(self)
@@ -265,8 +264,7 @@ class TemplateDialog(QDialog, Ui_TemplateDialog):
         self.function.setCurrentIndex(0)
         self.function.currentIndexChanged[str].connect(self.function_changed)
         self.textbox_changed()
-        self.rule = (rule_kind, None, '')
-        self.rule_kind = rule_kind
+        self.rule = (None, '')
 
         tt = _('Template language tutorial')
         self.template_tutorial.setText(
@@ -325,5 +323,5 @@ class TemplateDialog(QDialog, Ui_TemplateDialog):
                     _('The template box cannot be empty'), show=True)
                 return
 
-        self.rule = (self.rule_kind, unicode(self.colored_field.currentText()), txt)
+        self.rule = (unicode(self.colored_field.currentText()), txt)
         QDialog.accept(self)
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/preferences/coloring.py b/src/calibre/gui2/preferences/coloring.py
index b432cec70e..7dbf3ec082 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/preferences/coloring.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/preferences/coloring.py
@@ -742,7 +742,7 @@ class EditRules(QWidget): # {{{
 
     def add_advanced(self):
         td = TemplateDialog(self, '', mi=self.mi, fm=self.fm, color_field='')
-        self._add_rule(td)
+        self._add_rule(('color', td[0], td[1]))
 
     def edit_rule(self, index):
         try:
@@ -755,6 +755,8 @@ class EditRules(QWidget): # {{{
         else:
             d = TemplateDialog(self, rule, mi=self.mi, fm=self.fm, color_field=col)
         if d.exec_() == d.Accepted:
+            if len(d.rule) == 2: # Convert template dialog rules to a triple
+                d.rule = ('color', d.rule[0], d.rule[1])
             kind, col, r = d.rule
             if kind and r is not None and col:
                 self.model.replace_rule(index, kind, col, r)
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/coloring.py b/src/calibre/library/coloring.py
index 807279a565..eae640174b 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/coloring.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/coloring.py
@@ -134,8 +134,8 @@ class Rule(object): # {{{
 
     def date_condition(self, col, action, val):
         if action == 'count_days':
-            return (("cmp(add(%s, 1), days_between(today(), format_date(raw_field('%s'), 'yyyy-MM-dd')), '', '1', '1')")
-                     %(val, col))
+            return (("test(field('%s'), cmp(%s, days_between(today(), format_date(raw_field('%s'), 'yyyy-MM-dd')), '', '1', '1'), '')")
+                     %(col, str(int(val)+1), col))
         lt, eq, gt = {
                 'eq': ('', '1', ''),
                 'lt': ('1', '', ''),