diff --git a/dist/gridstack.js b/dist/gridstack.js
index 2ca4886..d4066f8 100644
--- a/dist/gridstack.js
+++ b/dist/gridstack.js
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@
             var height = val;
             var heightUnit = 'px';
             if (height && _.isString(height)) {
-                var match = height.match(/^([0-9]*\.[0-9]+|[0-9]+)(px|em|rem|vh|vw)?$/);
+                var match = height.match(/^(-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+|[0-9]*\.[0-9]+|-[0-9]+|[0-9]+)(px|em|rem|vh|vw)?$/);
                 if (!match) {
                     throw new Error('Invalid height');
                 }
diff --git a/spec/utils-spec.js b/spec/utils-spec.js
index d383e77..0992767 100644
--- a/spec/utils-spec.js
+++ b/spec/utils-spec.js
@@ -91,7 +91,19 @@ describe('gridstack utils', function() {
             expect(utils.parseHeight('12.3vw')).toEqual(jasmine.objectContaining({height: 12.3, unit: 'vw'}));
             expect(utils.parseHeight('12.5')).toEqual(jasmine.objectContaining({height: 12.5, unit: 'px'}));
             expect(function() { utils.parseHeight('12.5 df'); }).toThrowError('Invalid height');
+
         });
 
+        it('should parse negative height value', function() {
+            expect(utils.parseHeight(-12)).toEqual(jasmine.objectContaining({height: -12, unit: 'px'}));
+            expect(utils.parseHeight('-12px')).toEqual(jasmine.objectContaining({height: -12, unit: 'px'}));
+            expect(utils.parseHeight('-12.3px')).toEqual(jasmine.objectContaining({height: -12.3, unit: 'px'}));
+            expect(utils.parseHeight('-12.3em')).toEqual(jasmine.objectContaining({height: -12.3, unit: 'em'}));
+            expect(utils.parseHeight('-12.3rem')).toEqual(jasmine.objectContaining({height: -12.3, unit: 'rem'}));
+            expect(utils.parseHeight('-12.3vh')).toEqual(jasmine.objectContaining({height: -12.3, unit: 'vh'}));
+            expect(utils.parseHeight('-12.3vw')).toEqual(jasmine.objectContaining({height: -12.3, unit: 'vw'}));
+            expect(utils.parseHeight('-12.5')).toEqual(jasmine.objectContaining({height: -12.5, unit: 'px'}));
+            expect(function() { utils.parseHeight('-12.5 df'); }).toThrowError('Invalid height');
+        });
     });
 });
diff --git a/src/gridstack.js b/src/gridstack.js
index 2ca4886..d4066f8 100644
--- a/src/gridstack.js
+++ b/src/gridstack.js
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@
             var height = val;
             var heightUnit = 'px';
             if (height && _.isString(height)) {
-                var match = height.match(/^([0-9]*\.[0-9]+|[0-9]+)(px|em|rem|vh|vw)?$/);
+                var match = height.match(/^(-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+|[0-9]*\.[0-9]+|-[0-9]+|[0-9]+)(px|em|rem|vh|vw)?$/);
                 if (!match) {
                     throw new Error('Invalid height');
                 }