diff --git a/src/Database/Esqueleto/Utils.hs b/src/Database/Esqueleto/Utils.hs
index 7ed7b332b..236463675 100644
--- a/src/Database/Esqueleto/Utils.hs
+++ b/src/Database/Esqueleto/Utils.hs
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ module Database.Esqueleto.Utils
   , maybe, maybe2, maybeEq, guardMaybe, unsafeCoalesce
   , bool
   , max, min
-  , greatest
+  , greatest, least
   , abs
   , SqlProject(..)
   , (->.), (#>>.)
@@ -114,8 +114,10 @@ infixl 4 ?=.
 isJust :: PersistField typ => E.SqlExpr (E.Value (Maybe typ)) -> E.SqlExpr (E.Value Bool)
 isJust = E.not_ . E.isNothing
 
+-- | Deprecated, use coalesce directly
 alt :: PersistField typ => E.SqlExpr (E.Value (Maybe typ)) -> E.SqlExpr (E.Value (Maybe typ)) -> E.SqlExpr (E.Value (Maybe typ))
-alt a b = E.case_ [(isJust a, a), (isJust b, b)] b
+-- alt a b = E.case_ [(isJust a, a), (isJust b, b)] b
+alt a b = E.coalesce [a,b]
 
 infix 4 `isInfixOf`, `hasInfix`
 
@@ -435,11 +437,12 @@ max, min :: PersistField a
 max a b = bool a b $ b E.>. a
 min a b = bool a b $ b E.<. a
 
+-- these alternatives for max/min ought to be more efficient
+greatest :: PersistField a => E.SqlExpr (E.Value a) -> E.SqlExpr (E.Value a) -> E.SqlExpr (E.Value a)
+greatest a b = E.unsafeSqlFunction "GREATEST" $ E.toArgList (a,b)
 
-greatest :: PersistField a => (E.SqlExpr (E.Value a), E.SqlExpr (E.Value a)) -> E.SqlExpr (E.Value a)
-greatest = E.unsafeSqlFunction "GREATEST" . E.toArgList
-
-
+least :: PersistField a => E.SqlExpr (E.Value a) -> E.SqlExpr (E.Value a) -> E.SqlExpr (E.Value a)
+least a b = E.unsafeSqlFunction "LEAST" $ E.toArgList (a,b)
 
 abs :: (PersistField a, Num a)
     => E.SqlExpr (E.Value a)