diff --git a/node_modules/@npmcli/query/lib/index.js b/node_modules/@npmcli/query/lib/index.js
index 36a8c700caae1..44f539ee0a125 100644
--- a/node_modules/@npmcli/query/lib/index.js
+++ b/node_modules/@npmcli/query/lib/index.js
@@ -118,10 +118,40 @@ const fixupNestedPseudo = astNode => {
   transformAst(newRootNode)
 }
 
+// :semver(<version|range>, [selector], [function])
 const fixupSemverSpecs = astNode => {
-  const children = astNode.nodes[0].nodes
+  // the first child node contains the version or range, most likely as a tag and a series of
+  // classes. we combine them into a single string here. this is the only required input.
+  const children = astNode.nodes.shift().nodes
   const value = children.reduce((res, i) => `${res}${String(i)}`, '')
 
+  // next, if we have 2 nodes left then the user called us with a total of 3. that means the
+  // last one tells us what specific semver function the user is requesting, so we pull that out
+  let semverFunc
+  if (astNode.nodes.length === 2) {
+    const funcNode = astNode.nodes.pop().nodes[0]
+    if (funcNode.type === 'tag') {
+      semverFunc = funcNode.value
+    }
+  }
+
+  // now if there's a node left, that node is our selector. since that is the last remaining
+  // child node, we call fixupAttr on ourselves so that the attribute selectors get parsed
+  if (astNode.nodes.length === 1) {
+    fixupAttr(astNode)
+  } else {
+    // we weren't provided a selector, so we default to `[version]`. note, there's no default
+    // operator here. that's because we don't know yet if the user has provided us a version
+    // or range to assert against
+    astNode.attributeMatcher = {
+      insensitive: false,
+      attribute: 'version',
+      qualifiedAttribute: 'version',
+    }
+    astNode.lookupProperties = []
+  }
+
+  astNode.semverFunc = semverFunc
   astNode.semverValue = value
   astNode.nodes.length = 0
 }
diff --git a/node_modules/@npmcli/query/package.json b/node_modules/@npmcli/query/package.json
index 0c9247e0bb23b..610d0b7189182 100644
--- a/node_modules/@npmcli/query/package.json
+++ b/node_modules/@npmcli/query/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@npmcli/query",
-  "version": "1.1.1",
+  "version": "1.2.0",
   "description": "npm query parser and tools",
   "main": "lib/index.js",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index cb98120ca6803..73e6f86df695b 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1057,9 +1057,9 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/@npmcli/query": {
-      "version": "1.1.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@npmcli/query/-/query-1.1.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-UF3I0fD94wzQ84vojMO2jDB8ibjRSTqhi8oz2mzVKiJ9gZHbeGlu9kzPvgHuGDK0Hf2cARhWtTfCDHNEwlL9hg==",
+      "version": "1.2.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@npmcli/query/-/query-1.2.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-uWglsUM3PjBLgTSmZ3/vygeGdvWEIZ3wTUnzGFbprC/RtvQSaT+GAXu1DXmSFj2bD3oOZdcRm1xdzsV2z1YWdw==",
       "dependencies": {
         "npm-package-arg": "^9.1.0",
         "postcss-selector-parser": "^6.0.10",
@@ -10499,7 +10499,7 @@
         "@npmcli/name-from-folder": "^1.0.1",
         "@npmcli/node-gyp": "^2.0.0",
         "@npmcli/package-json": "^2.0.0",
-        "@npmcli/query": "^1.1.1",
+        "@npmcli/query": "^1.2.0",
         "@npmcli/run-script": "^4.1.3",
         "bin-links": "^3.0.0",
         "cacache": "^16.1.3",
diff --git a/workspaces/arborist/package.json b/workspaces/arborist/package.json
index a7a6b6e9bd5da..77a7c71b99d26 100644
--- a/workspaces/arborist/package.json
+++ b/workspaces/arborist/package.json
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
     "@npmcli/name-from-folder": "^1.0.1",
     "@npmcli/node-gyp": "^2.0.0",
     "@npmcli/package-json": "^2.0.0",
-    "@npmcli/query": "^1.1.1",
+    "@npmcli/query": "^1.2.0",
     "@npmcli/run-script": "^4.1.3",
     "bin-links": "^3.0.0",
     "cacache": "^16.1.3",