diff --git a/IPython/parallel/controller/sqlitedb.py b/IPython/parallel/controller/sqlitedb.py
index 8b5d724..7c3f159 100644
--- a/IPython/parallel/controller/sqlitedb.py
+++ b/IPython/parallel/controller/sqlitedb.py
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ class SQLiteDB(BaseDB):
                         op, join = op
 
                     if value is None and op in null_operators:
-                            expr = "%s %s"%null_operators[op]
+                        expr = "%s %s" % (name, null_operators[op])
                     else:
                         expr = "%s %s ?"%(name, op)
                         if isinstance(value, (tuple,list)):
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ class SQLiteDB(BaseDB):
             else:
                 # it's an equality check
                 if sub_check is None:
-                    expressions.append("%s IS NULL")
+                    expressions.append("%s IS NULL" % name)
                 else:
                     expressions.append("%s = ?"%name)
                     args.append(sub_check)
diff --git a/IPython/parallel/tests/test_db.py b/IPython/parallel/tests/test_db.py
index 3bdc1e9..66a4057 100644
--- a/IPython/parallel/tests/test_db.py
+++ b/IPython/parallel/tests/test_db.py
@@ -170,6 +170,18 @@ class TestDictBackend(TestCase):
         self.db.drop_matching_records(query)
         recs = self.db.find_records(query)
         self.assertEquals(len(recs), 0)
+    
+    def test_null(self):
+        """test None comparison queries"""
+        msg_ids = self.load_records(10)
+
+        query = {'msg_id' : None}
+        recs = self.db.find_records(query)
+        self.assertEquals(len(recs), 0)
+
+        query = {'msg_id' : {'$ne' : None}}
+        recs = self.db.find_records(query)
+        self.assertTrue(len(recs) >= 10)
 
 
 class TestSQLiteBackend(TestDictBackend):