diff --git a/dirmngr/dns.c b/dirmngr/dns.c
index 8e8b6db0b..13ef4b8fd 100644
--- a/dirmngr/dns.c
+++ b/dirmngr/dns.c
@@ -6096,17 +6096,9 @@ int dns_nssconf_loadfile(struct dns_resolv_conf *resconf, FILE *fp) {
 			dns_anyconf_skip(" \t", fp);
 
 			if ('[' == dns_anyconf_peek(fp)) {
-				dns_anyconf_skip("[ \t", fp);
+				dns_anyconf_skip("[! \t", fp);
 
-				for (;;) {
-					if ('!' == dns_anyconf_peek(fp)) {
-						dns_anyconf_skip("! \t", fp);
-						/* FIXME: negating statuses; currently not implemented */
-						dns_anyconf_skip("^#;]\n", fp); /* skip to end of criteria */
-						break;
-					}
-
-					if (!dns_anyconf_scan(&cf, "%w_", fp, &error)) break;
+				while (dns_anyconf_scan(&cf, "%w_", fp, &error)) {
 					dns_anyconf_skip("= \t", fp);
 					if (!dns_anyconf_scan(&cf, "%w_", fp, &error)) {
 						dns_anyconf_pop(&cf); /* discard status */