diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/treeops/data_tree_navigator_test.go b/pkg/yqlib/treeops/data_tree_navigator_test.go
index b19f9136..cdfde2f6 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/treeops/data_tree_navigator_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/treeops/data_tree_navigator_test.go
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ func TestDataTreeNavigatorCountMultipleMatchesInside(t *testing.T) {
   b: dally
   c: [3,4,5]`)
 
-	path, errPath := treeCreator.ParsePath("f(count(a or c))")
+	path, errPath := treeCreator.ParsePath("f | count(a or c)")
 	if errPath != nil {
 		t.Error(errPath)
 	}
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ func TestDataTreeNavigatorCollectMultipleMatchesInside(t *testing.T) {
   b: dally
   c: [3,4,5]`)
 
-	path, errPath := treeCreator.ParsePath("f(collect(a or c))")
+	path, errPath := treeCreator.ParsePath("f | collect(a or c)")
 	if errPath != nil {
 		t.Error(errPath)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/treeops/lib.go b/pkg/yqlib/treeops/lib.go
index 43be04e6..d2b53791 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/treeops/lib.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/treeops/lib.go
@@ -30,15 +30,15 @@ type OperationType struct {
 }
 
 var None = &OperationType{Type: "NONE", NumArgs: 0, Precedence: 0}
-var Traverse = &OperationType{Type: "TRAVERSE", NumArgs: 2, Precedence: 40, Handler: TraverseOperator}
+var Traverse = &OperationType{Type: "TRAVERSE", NumArgs: 2, Precedence: 35, Handler: TraverseOperator}
 var Or = &OperationType{Type: "OR", NumArgs: 2, Precedence: 10, Handler: UnionOperator}
 var And = &OperationType{Type: "AND", NumArgs: 2, Precedence: 20, Handler: IntersectionOperator}
 var Equals = &OperationType{Type: "EQUALS", NumArgs: 2, Precedence: 30, Handler: EqualsOperator}
-var Assign = &OperationType{Type: "ASSIGN", NumArgs: 2, Precedence: 35, Handler: AssignOperator}
+var Assign = &OperationType{Type: "ASSIGN", NumArgs: 2, Precedence: 40, Handler: AssignOperator}
 var DeleteChild = &OperationType{Type: "DELETE", NumArgs: 2, Precedence: 30, Handler: DeleteChildOperator}
 
-var Count = &OperationType{Type: "COUNT", NumArgs: 1, Precedence: 35, Handler: CountOperator}
-var Collect = &OperationType{Type: "COLLECT", NumArgs: 1, Precedence: 35, Handler: CollectOperator}
+var Count = &OperationType{Type: "COUNT", NumArgs: 1, Precedence: 40, Handler: CountOperator}
+var Collect = &OperationType{Type: "COLLECT", NumArgs: 1, Precedence: 40, Handler: CollectOperator}
 
 // var Exists = &OperationType{Type: "Length", NumArgs: 2, Precedence: 35}
 // filters matches if they have the existing path
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/treeops/path_postfix_test.go b/pkg/yqlib/treeops/path_postfix_test.go
index 7559e8e8..89f112cf 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/treeops/path_postfix_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/treeops/path_postfix_test.go
@@ -25,6 +25,26 @@ func testExpression(expression string) (string, error) {
 	return formatted, nil
 }
 
+func TestPostFixTraverseBar(t *testing.T) {
+	var infix = "animals | collect(.)"
+	var expectedOutput = `PathKey - 'animals'
+--------
+SELF
+--------
+Operation - COLLECT
+--------
+Operation - TRAVERSE
+--------
+`
+
+	actual, err := testExpression(infix)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	test.AssertResultComplex(t, expectedOutput, actual)
+}
+
 func TestPostFixArrayEquals(t *testing.T) {
 	var infix = "animals(.== cat)"
 	var expectedOutput = `PathKey - 'animals'
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/treeops/path_tokeniser.go b/pkg/yqlib/treeops/path_tokeniser.go
index 3236ceda..ccb52012 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/treeops/path_tokeniser.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/treeops/path_tokeniser.go
@@ -94,8 +94,9 @@ func initLexer() (*lex.Lexer, error) {
 	lexer.Add([]byte("( |\t|\n|\r)+"), skip)
 
 	lexer.Add([]byte(`"[^ "]+"`), pathToken(true))
-	lexer.Add([]byte(`[^ \.\[\(\)=]+`), pathToken(false))
+	lexer.Add([]byte(`[^ \|\.\[\(\)=]+`), pathToken(false))
 
+	lexer.Add([]byte(`\|`), opToken(Traverse, false))
 	lexer.Add([]byte(`\.`), opToken(Traverse, false))
 	err := lexer.Compile()
 	if err != nil {