diff --git a/tail.go b/tail.go
index 29cd4ce..d38e540 100644
--- a/tail.go
+++ b/tail.go
@@ -26,7 +26,9 @@ type Line struct {
 
 // Config is used to specify how a file must be tailed.
 type Config struct {
-	Location    int64 // Tail from last N lines (tail -n)
+	Location int64 // For positive location, tail after first N
+	// lines; for negative, tail from last N lines;
+	// for zero, tail from end. If -1, do not seek.
 	Follow      bool  // Continue looking for new lines (tail -f)
 	ReOpen      bool  // Reopen recreated files (tail -F)
 	MustExist   bool  // Fail early if the file does not exist
@@ -139,9 +141,16 @@ func (tail *Tail) tailFileSync() {
 	}
 
 	// Seek to requested location on first open of the file.
-	if tail.Location >= 0 {
-		// Seek relative to file end
-		_, err := tail.file.Seek(tail.Location, 2) 
+	if tail.Location != -1 {
+		var err error
+		switch {
+		case tail.Location <= 0:
+			// Seek relative to file end
+			_, err = tail.file.Seek(tail.Location, os.SEEK_END)
+		default:
+			// Seek from file beginning
+			_, err = tail.file.Seek(tail.Location, os.SEEK_SET)
+		}
 		if err != nil {
 			tail.Killf("Seek error on %s: %s", tail.Filename, err)
 			return