diff --git a/core/src/main/kotlin/com/malinskiy/marathon/execution/filter/CompositionFilter.kt b/core/src/main/kotlin/com/malinskiy/marathon/execution/filter/CompositionFilter.kt
index 1986510a0..e566c8186 100644
--- a/core/src/main/kotlin/com/malinskiy/marathon/execution/filter/CompositionFilter.kt
+++ b/core/src/main/kotlin/com/malinskiy/marathon/execution/filter/CompositionFilter.kt
@@ -40,10 +40,16 @@ class CompositionFilter(
 
 
     private fun filterWithSubtractOperation(tests: List<Test>): List<Test> {
-        return filters.fold(tests.toSet()) { acc, f ->
-            acc.subtract(f.filter(tests))
+        return when (filters.size) {
+            0, 1 -> tests
+            else -> {
+                val left = filters.first().filter(tests)
+                filters.slice(1..filters.size - 1).fold(left.toSet()) { acc, f ->
+                    acc.subtract(f.filter(left))
 
-        }.toList()
+                }.toList()
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     override fun equals(other: Any?): Boolean {
diff --git a/core/src/test/kotlin/com/malinskiy/marathon/execution/filter/CompositionFilterTest.kt b/core/src/test/kotlin/com/malinskiy/marathon/execution/filter/CompositionFilterTest.kt
index 5316a90ea..55d603c5e 100644
--- a/core/src/test/kotlin/com/malinskiy/marathon/execution/filter/CompositionFilterTest.kt
+++ b/core/src/test/kotlin/com/malinskiy/marathon/execution/filter/CompositionFilterTest.kt
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ class CompositionFilterTest {
     private val dogTest = stubTest("FilterAnimalDogTest", "com.example.BestAnimal")
     private val catTest = stubTest("FilterAnimalCatTest", "")
     private val horseTest = stubTest("FilterAnimalHorseTest", "")
+    private val cubeTest = stubTest("FilterCubeTest", "")
     val tests = listOf(
         dogTest,
         catTest,
@@ -33,9 +34,9 @@ class CompositionFilterTest {
         TestFilterConfiguration.CompositionFilterConfiguration.OPERATION.INTERSECTION
     ).toTestFilter()
 
-    private val composition = TestFilterConfiguration.CompositionFilterConfiguration(
+    private val subtraction = TestFilterConfiguration.CompositionFilterConfiguration(
         listOf(
-            TestFilterConfiguration.SimpleClassnameFilterConfiguration(".*Dog.*".toRegex()),
+            TestFilterConfiguration.SimpleClassnameFilterConfiguration(".*Animal.*".toRegex()),
             TestFilterConfiguration.AnnotationFilterConfiguration("com.example.BestAnimal".toRegex())
         ),
         TestFilterConfiguration.CompositionFilterConfiguration.OPERATION.SUBTRACT
@@ -62,13 +63,13 @@ class CompositionFilterTest {
     }
 
     @Test
-    fun shouldFilterComposition() {
-        composition.filter(tests) shouldBeEqualTo listOf(catTest, horseTest)
+    fun shouldFilterSubtraction() {
+        subtraction.filter(tests + cubeTest) shouldBeEqualTo listOf(catTest, horseTest)
     }
 
     @Test
-    fun shouldFilterNotComposition() {
-        composition.filterNot(tests) shouldBeEqualTo listOf(dogTest)
+    fun shouldFilterNotSubtraction() {
+        subtraction.filterNot(tests + cubeTest) shouldBeEqualTo listOf(dogTest, cubeTest)
     }
 }