diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index eca3a998..acd573e0 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 #include "mmpriv.h"
 #include "ketopt.h"
 
-#define MM_VERSION "2.19-r1059-dirty"
+#define MM_VERSION "2.19-r1060-dirty"
 
 #ifdef __linux__
 #include <sys/resource.h>
@@ -296,8 +296,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	}
 	if (!fnw && !(opt.flag&MM_F_CIGAR))
 		ipt.flag |= MM_I_NO_SEQ;
-	if (opt.bw < opt.bw_long && (opt.flag&MM_F_RMQ))
-		opt.bw = opt.bw_long;
 	if (mm_check_opt(&ipt, &opt) < 0)
 		return 1;
 	if (opt.best_n == 0) {
@@ -319,7 +317,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		fprintf(fp_help, "    -g NUM       stop chain enlongation if there are no minimizers in INT-bp [%d]\n", opt.max_gap);
 		fprintf(fp_help, "    -G NUM       max intron length (effective with -xsplice; changing -r) [200k]\n");
 		fprintf(fp_help, "    -F NUM       max fragment length (effective with -xsr or in the fragment mode) [800]\n");
-		fprintf(fp_help, "    -r NUM       bandwidth used in chaining and DP-based alignment [%d]\n", opt.bw);
+		fprintf(fp_help, "    -r NUM[,NUM] chaining/alignment bandwidth and long-join bandwidth [%d,%d]\n", opt.bw, opt.bw_long);
 		fprintf(fp_help, "    -n INT       minimal number of minimizers on a chain [%d]\n", opt.min_cnt);
 		fprintf(fp_help, "    -m INT       minimal chaining score (matching bases minus log gap penalty) [%d]\n", opt.min_chain_score);
 //		fprintf(fp_help, "    -T INT       SDUST threshold; 0 to disable SDUST [%d]\n", opt.sdust_thres); // TODO: this option is never used; might be buggy
diff --git a/map.c b/map.c
index 513fe1fe..a41b7a95 100644
--- a/map.c
+++ b/map.c
@@ -277,7 +277,17 @@ void mm_map_frag(const mm_idx_t *mi, int n_segs, const int *qlens, const char **
 						 opt->chain_gap_scale * 0.01 * mi->k, 0.0f, is_splice, n_segs, n_a, a, &n_regs0, &u, b->km);
 	}
 
-	if (opt->max_occ > opt->mid_occ && rep_len > 0 && !(opt->flag & MM_F_RMQ)) {
+	if (opt->bw_long > opt->bw && (opt->flag & MM_F_NO_LJOIN) == 0 && n_segs == 1 && n_regs0 > 1) { // re-chain/long-join for long sequences
+		int32_t st = (int32_t)a[0].y, en = (int32_t)a[(int32_t)u[0] - 1].y;
+		if (qlen_sum - (en - st) > opt->rmq_rescue_size || en - st > qlen_sum * opt->rmq_rescue_ratio) {
+			int32_t i;
+			for (i = 0, n_a = 0; i < n_regs0; ++i) n_a += (int32_t)u[i];
+			kfree(b->km, u);
+			radix_sort_128x(a, a + n_a);
+			a = mg_lchain_rmq(opt->max_gap, opt->rmq_inner_dist, opt->bw_long, opt->max_chain_skip, opt->rmq_size_cap, opt->min_cnt, opt->min_chain_score,
+							  opt->chain_gap_scale * 0.01 * mi->k, 0.0f, n_a, a, &n_regs0, &u, b->km);
+		}
+	} else if (opt->max_occ > opt->mid_occ && rep_len > 0 && !(opt->flag & MM_F_RMQ)) { // re-chain, mostly for short reads
 		int rechain = 0;
 		if (n_regs0 > 0) { // test if the best chain has all the segments
 			int n_chained_segs = 1, max = 0, max_i = -1, max_off = -1, off = 0;
@@ -300,16 +310,6 @@ void mm_map_frag(const mm_idx_t *mi, int n_segs, const int *qlens, const char **
 			a = mg_lchain_dp(max_chain_gap_ref, max_chain_gap_qry, opt->bw, opt->max_chain_skip, opt->max_chain_iter, opt->min_cnt, opt->min_chain_score,
 							 opt->chain_gap_scale * 0.01 * mi->k, 0.0f, is_splice, n_segs, n_a, a, &n_regs0, &u, b->km);
 		}
-	} else if (opt->bw_long > opt->bw && (opt->flag & (MM_F_RMQ|MM_F_NO_LJOIN)) == 0 && n_segs == 1 && n_regs0 > 1) {
-		int32_t st = (int32_t)a[0].y, en = (int32_t)a[(int32_t)u[0] - 1].y;
-		if (qlen_sum - (en - st) > opt->rmq_rescue_size || en - st > qlen_sum * opt->rmq_rescue_ratio) {
-			int32_t i;
-			for (i = 0, n_a = 0; i < n_regs0; ++i) n_a += (int32_t)u[i];
-			kfree(b->km, u);
-			radix_sort_128x(a, a + n_a);
-			a = mg_lchain_rmq(opt->max_gap, opt->rmq_inner_dist, opt->bw_long, opt->max_chain_skip, opt->rmq_size_cap, opt->min_cnt, opt->min_chain_score,
-							  opt->chain_gap_scale * 0.01 * mi->k, 0.0f, n_a, a, &n_regs0, &u, b->km);
-		}
 	}
 	b->frag_gap = max_chain_gap_ref;
 	b->rep_len = rep_len;
diff --git a/minimap2.1 b/minimap2.1
index 94e3ce3f..251ed992 100644
--- a/minimap2.1
+++ b/minimap2.1
@@ -165,9 +165,12 @@ Stop chain enlongation if there are no minimizers within
 .IR NUM -bp
 [10k].
 .TP
-.BI -r \ NUM
-Bandwidth used in chaining and DP-based alignment [500,20k]. This option
-approximately controls the maximum gap size.
+.BI -r \ NUM1 [, NUM2 ]
+Bandwidth for chaining and base alignment [500,20k].
+.I NUM1
+is used for initial chaining and alignment extension;
+.I NUM2
+for RMQ-based re-chaining and closing gaps in alignments.
 .TP
 .BI -n \ INT
 Discard chains consisting of
diff --git a/options.c b/options.c
index 8ff99d53..08a4d93b 100644
--- a/options.c
+++ b/options.c
@@ -156,6 +156,11 @@ int mm_set_opt(const char *preset, mm_idxopt_t *io, mm_mapopt_t *mo)
 
 int mm_check_opt(const mm_idxopt_t *io, const mm_mapopt_t *mo)
 {
+	if (mo->bw > mo->bw_long) {
+		if (mm_verbose >= 1)
+			fprintf(stderr, "[ERROR]\033[1;31m with '-rNUM1,NUM2', NUM1 (%d) can't be larger than NUM2 (%d)\033[0m\n", mo->bw, mo->bw_long);
+		return -8;
+	}
 	if ((mo->flag & MM_F_RMQ) && (mo->flag & (MM_F_SR|MM_F_SPLICE))) {
 		if (mm_verbose >= 1)
 			fprintf(stderr, "[ERROR]\033[1;31m --rmq doesn't work with --sr or --splice\033[0m\n");