diff --git a/base/sparse/abstractsparse.jl b/base/sparse/abstractsparse.jl
index 1402241c422c5..05d65d97d9645 100644
--- a/base/sparse/abstractsparse.jl
+++ b/base/sparse/abstractsparse.jl
@@ -31,16 +31,16 @@ end
 
 # The following two methods should be overloaded by concrete types to avoid
 # allocating the I = find(...)
-_sparse_findnext(v::AbstractSparseArray, i) = (I = find(v); n = searchsortedfirst(I, i); n<=length(I) ? I[n] : 0)
-_sparse_findprev(v::AbstractSparseArray, i) = (I = find(v); n = searchsortedlast(I, i);  n>0          ? I[n] : 0)
+_sparse_findnextnz(v::AbstractSparseArray, i) = (I = find(!iszero, v); n = searchsortedfirst(I, i); n<=length(I) ? I[n] : 0)
+_sparse_findprevnz(v::AbstractSparseArray, i) = (I = find(!iszero, v); n = searchsortedlast(I, i);  n>0          ? I[n] : 0)
 
-function findnext(v::AbstractSparseArray, i::Int)
-    j = _sparse_findnext(v, i)
+function findnext(f::typeof(!iszero), v::AbstractSparseArray, i::Int)
+    j = _sparse_findnextnz(v, i)
     if j == 0
         return 0
     end
-    while v[j] == 0
-        j = _sparse_findnext(v, j+1)
+    while !f(v[j])
+        j = _sparse_findnextnz(v, j+1)
         if j == 0
             return 0
         end
@@ -48,13 +48,13 @@ function findnext(v::AbstractSparseArray, i::Int)
     return j
 end
 
-function findprev(v::AbstractSparseArray, i::Int)
-    j = _sparse_findprev(v, i)
+function findprev(f::typeof(!iszero), v::AbstractSparseArray, i::Int)
+    j = _sparse_findprevnz(v, i)
     if j == 0
         return 0
     end
-    while v[j] == 0
-        j = _sparse_findprev(v, j-1)
+    while !f(v[j])
+        j = _sparse_findprevnz(v, j-1)
         if j == 0
             return 0
         end
diff --git a/base/sparse/sparsematrix.jl b/base/sparse/sparsematrix.jl
index 1405dcb841ea8..ace945eb5ff0d 100644
--- a/base/sparse/sparsematrix.jl
+++ b/base/sparse/sparsematrix.jl
@@ -1318,7 +1318,7 @@ function findnz(S::SparseMatrixCSC{Tv,Ti}) where {Tv,Ti}
     return (I, J, V)
 end
 
-function _sparse_findnext(m::SparseMatrixCSC, i::Int)
+function _sparse_findnextnz(m::SparseMatrixCSC, i::Int)
     if i > length(m)
         return 0
     end
@@ -1336,7 +1336,7 @@ function _sparse_findnext(m::SparseMatrixCSC, i::Int)
     return sub2ind(m, m.rowval[nextlo], nextcol-1)
 end
 
-function _sparse_findprev(m::SparseMatrixCSC, i::Int)
+function _sparse_findprevnz(m::SparseMatrixCSC, i::Int)
     if i < 1
         return 0
     end
diff --git a/base/sparse/sparsevector.jl b/base/sparse/sparsevector.jl
index 922b1b10e55c1..b900b696cacb5 100644
--- a/base/sparse/sparsevector.jl
+++ b/base/sparse/sparsevector.jl
@@ -737,7 +737,7 @@ function findnz(x::SparseVector{Tv,Ti}) where {Tv,Ti}
     return (I, V)
 end
 
-function _sparse_findnext(v::SparseVector, i::Int)
+function _sparse_findnextnz(v::SparseVector, i::Int)
     n = searchsortedfirst(v.nzind, i)
     if n > length(v.nzind)
         return 0
@@ -746,7 +746,7 @@ function _sparse_findnext(v::SparseVector, i::Int)
     end
 end
 
-function _sparse_findprev(v::SparseVector, i::Int)
+function _sparse_findprevnz(v::SparseVector, i::Int)
     n = searchsortedlast(v.nzind, i)
     if n < 1
         return 0
diff --git a/test/sparse/sparse.jl b/test/sparse/sparse.jl
index 19732dc88dc83..645182a30ff5e 100644
--- a/test/sparse/sparse.jl
+++ b/test/sparse/sparse.jl
@@ -2155,8 +2155,8 @@ end
     x_sp = sparse(x)
 
     for i=1:length(x)
-        @test findnext(x,i) == findnext(x_sp,i)
-        @test findprev(x,i) == findprev(x_sp,i)
+        @test findnext(!iszero, x,i) == findnext(!iszero, x_sp,i)
+        @test findprev(!iszero, x,i) == findprev(!iszero, x_sp,i)
     end
 
     y = [0 0 0 0 0;
@@ -2167,15 +2167,15 @@ end
     y_sp = sparse(y)
 
     for i=1:length(y)
-        @test findnext(y,i) == findnext(y_sp,i)
-        @test findprev(y,i) == findprev(y_sp,i)
+        @test findnext(!iszero, y,i) == findnext(!iszero, y_sp,i)
+        @test findprev(!iszero, y,i) == findprev(!iszero, y_sp,i)
     end
 
     z_sp = sparsevec(Dict(1=>1, 5=>1, 8=>0, 10=>1))
     z = collect(z_sp)
 
     for i=1:length(z)
-        @test findnext(z,i) == findnext(z_sp,i)
-        @test findprev(z,i) == findprev(z_sp,i)
+        @test findnext(!iszero, z,i) == findnext(!iszero, z_sp,i)
+        @test findprev(!iszero, z,i) == findprev(!iszero, z_sp,i)
     end
 end