diff --git a/src/find/matchers/mod.rs b/src/find/matchers/mod.rs
index 5a86af66..e99b5f39 100644
--- a/src/find/matchers/mod.rs
+++ b/src/find/matchers/mod.rs
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ use self::size::SizeMatcher;
 #[cfg(unix)]
 use self::stat::{InodeMatcher, LinksMatcher};
 use self::time::{
-    FileAgeRangeMatcher, FileTimeMatcher, FileTimeType, NewerMatcher, NewerOptionMatcher,
-    NewerOptionType, NewerTimeMatcher,
+    FileAgeRangeMatcher, FileTimeMatcher, FileTimeType, NewerOptionMatcher, NewerOptionType,
+    NewerTimeMatcher,
 };
 use self::type_matcher::{TypeMatcher, XtypeMatcher};
 use self::user::{NoUserMatcher, UserMatcher};
@@ -800,7 +800,7 @@ fn build_matcher_tree(
                     return Err(missing_argument_error(args, i).into());
                 }
                 i += 1;
-                Some(NewerMatcher::new(args[i], config.follow)?.into_box())
+                Some(NewerOptionMatcher::new("m", "m", args[i], config.follow)?.into_box())
             }
             Predicate::Time(file_time_type) => {
                 if i >= args.len() - 1 {
@@ -1177,6 +1177,13 @@ fn build_matcher_tree(
                         "This system does not provide a way to find the birth time of a file.",
                     ));
                 }
+                #[cfg(not(unix))]
+                if y_option == "c" {
+                    return Err(From::from(format!(
+                        "{}: change times are not available on this platform",
+                        args[i]
+                    )));
+                }
                 if y_option == "t" {
                     let time = args[i + 1];
                     let newer_time_type = NewerOptionType::from_str(x_option.as_str());
@@ -1192,7 +1199,10 @@ fn build_matcher_tree(
                 } else {
                     let file_path = args[i + 1];
                     i += 1;
-                    Some(NewerOptionMatcher::new(&x_option, &y_option, file_path)?.into_box())
+                    Some(
+                        NewerOptionMatcher::new(&x_option, &y_option, file_path, config.follow)?
+                            .into_box(),
+                    )
                 }
             }
         };
@@ -2111,6 +2121,19 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    #[cfg(not(unix))]
+    fn build_top_level_matcher_rejects_newer_change_time_not_unix() {
+        let mut config = Config::default();
+        match build_top_level_matcher(&["-newermc", "test_data/simple"], &mut config) {
+            Ok(_) => panic!("-newermc needs a change time, which non-unix systems don't have"),
+            Err(err) => assert_eq!(
+                err.to_string(),
+                "-newermc: change times are not available on this platform"
+            ),
+        }
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn build_top_level_matcher_rejects_unknown_predicate() {
         let mut config = Config::default();
diff --git a/src/find/matchers/time.rs b/src/find/matchers/time.rs
index 384c2ad3..b3343b6d 100644
--- a/src/find/matchers/time.rs
+++ b/src/find/matchers/time.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 // https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT.
 
 use std::error::Error;
-use std::fs::{self, Metadata};
+use std::fs::Metadata;
 use std::io::{stderr, Write};
 use std::time::{Duration, SystemTime, UNIX_EPOCH};
 
@@ -34,52 +34,6 @@ fn get_time(matcher_io: &mut MatcherIO, today_start: bool) -> SystemTime {
     }
 }
 
-/// This matcher checks whether a file is newer than the file the matcher is initialized with.
-pub struct NewerMatcher {
-    given_modification_time: SystemTime,
-}
-
-impl NewerMatcher {
-    pub fn new(path_to_file: &str, follow: Follow) -> Result<Self, Box<dyn Error>> {
-        let metadata = follow.root_metadata(path_to_file)?;
-        Ok(Self {
-            given_modification_time: metadata.modified()?,
-        })
-    }
-
-    /// Implementation of matches that returns a result, allowing use to use try!
-    /// to deal with the errors.
-    fn matches_impl(&self, file_info: &WalkEntry) -> Result<bool, Box<dyn Error>> {
-        let this_time = file_info.metadata()?.modified()?;
-        // duration_since returns an Ok duration if this_time <= given_modification_time
-        // and returns an Err (with a duration) otherwise. So if this_time >
-        // given_modification_time (in which case we want to return true) then
-        // duration_since will return an error.
-        Ok(self
-            .given_modification_time
-            .duration_since(this_time)
-            .is_err())
-    }
-}
-
-impl Matcher for NewerMatcher {
-    fn matches(&self, file_info: &WalkEntry, _: &mut MatcherIO) -> bool {
-        match self.matches_impl(file_info) {
-            Err(e) => {
-                writeln!(
-                    &mut stderr(),
-                    "Error getting modification time for {}: {}",
-                    file_info.path().to_string_lossy(),
-                    e
-                )
-                .unwrap();
-                false
-            }
-            Ok(t) => t,
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 /// `-newerXY` option.
 /// a is meaning Accessed time
 /// B is meaning Birthed time
@@ -115,38 +69,31 @@ impl NewerOptionType {
     }
 }
 
-/// This matcher checks whether the file is newer than the file time of any combination of
-/// two comparison types from the target file's `NewerOptionType`.
+/// Compare a candidate's X time with a reference file's Y time.
 pub struct NewerOptionMatcher {
     x_option: NewerOptionType,
-    y_option: NewerOptionType,
-    given_modification_time: SystemTime,
+    reference_time: SystemTime,
 }
 
 impl NewerOptionMatcher {
-    pub fn new(x_option: &str, y_option: &str, path_to_file: &str) -> Result<Self, Box<dyn Error>> {
-        let metadata = fs::metadata(path_to_file)?;
+    pub fn new(
+        x_option: &str,
+        y_option: &str,
+        path_to_file: &str,
+        follow: Follow,
+    ) -> Result<Self, Box<dyn Error>> {
+        let metadata = follow.root_metadata(path_to_file)?;
         let x_option = NewerOptionType::from_str(x_option);
         let y_option = NewerOptionType::from_str(y_option);
         Ok(Self {
             x_option,
-            y_option,
-            given_modification_time: metadata.modified()?,
+            reference_time: y_option.get_file_time(&metadata)?,
         })
     }
 
     fn matches_impl(&self, file_info: &WalkEntry) -> Result<bool, Box<dyn Error>> {
         let x_option_time = self.x_option.get_file_time(file_info.metadata()?)?;
-        let y_option_time = self.y_option.get_file_time(file_info.metadata()?)?;
-
-        Ok(self
-            .given_modification_time
-            .duration_since(x_option_time)
-            .is_err()
-            && self
-                .given_modification_time
-                .duration_since(y_option_time)
-                .is_err())
+        Ok(x_option_time > self.reference_time)
     }
 }
 
@@ -156,9 +103,8 @@ impl Matcher for NewerOptionMatcher {
             Err(e) => {
                 writeln!(
                     &mut stderr(),
-                    "Error getting {:?} and {:?} time for {}: {}",
+                    "Error getting {:?} time for {}: {}",
                     self.x_option,
-                    self.y_option,
                     file_info.path().to_string_lossy(),
                     e
                 )
@@ -423,13 +369,16 @@ mod tests {
 
         let new_file = get_dir_entry_for(&temp_dir_path, new_file_name);
 
-        let matcher_for_new = NewerMatcher::new(
+        let matcher_for_new = NewerOptionMatcher::new(
+            "m",
+            "m",
             &temp_dir.path().join(new_file_name).to_string_lossy(),
             Follow::Never,
         )
         .unwrap();
         let matcher_for_old =
-            NewerMatcher::new(&old_file.path().to_string_lossy(), Follow::Never).unwrap();
+            NewerOptionMatcher::new("m", "m", &old_file.path().to_string_lossy(), Follow::Never)
+                .unwrap();
         let deps = FakeDependencies::new();
 
         assert!(
@@ -716,36 +665,49 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn newer_option_matcher() {
-        let options = [
-            "a",
-            #[cfg(not(target_os = "linux"))]
-            "B",
+        let temp_dir = Builder::new().prefix("newer_option_").tempdir().unwrap();
+        let reference = temp_dir.path().join("reference");
+        let candidate = temp_dir.path().join("candidate");
+        File::create(&reference).unwrap();
+        File::create(&candidate).unwrap();
+        // Change and birth times cannot be set, so they stay at the current
+        // time, which is later than all of these.
+        let base = 946_684_800;
+        filetime::set_file_times(
+            &reference,
+            filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(base + 100, 0),
+            filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(base + 300, 0),
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        filetime::set_file_times(
+            &candidate,
+            filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(base + 400, 0),
+            filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(base + 200, 0),
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        let candidate_entry = get_dir_entry_for(&temp_dir.path().to_string_lossy(), "candidate");
+        let reference = reference.to_string_lossy();
+
+        for (x_option, y_option, expected) in [
+            ("a", "a", true),
+            ("a", "m", true),
+            ("m", "a", true),
+            ("m", "m", false),
             #[cfg(unix)]
-            "c",
-            "m",
-        ];
-
-        for x_option in options {
-            for y_option in options {
-                let temp_dir = Builder::new().prefix("example").tempdir().unwrap();
-                let temp_dir_path = temp_dir.path().to_string_lossy();
-                let new_file_name = "newFile";
-                // this has just been created, so should be newer
-                File::create(temp_dir.path().join(new_file_name)).expect("create temp file");
-                let new_file = get_dir_entry_for(&temp_dir_path, new_file_name);
-                // this file should already exist
-                let old_file = get_dir_entry_for("test_data", "simple");
-                let deps = FakeDependencies::new();
-                let matcher =
-                    NewerOptionMatcher::new(x_option, y_option, &old_file.path().to_string_lossy());
-
-                assert!(
-                    matcher
-                        .unwrap()
-                        .matches(&new_file, &mut deps.new_matcher_io()),
-                    "new_file should be newer than old_dir"
-                );
-            }
+            ("a", "c", false),
+            #[cfg(unix)]
+            ("c", "m", true),
+            #[cfg(not(target_os = "linux"))]
+            ("a", "B", false),
+        ] {
+            let deps = FakeDependencies::new();
+            let matcher =
+                NewerOptionMatcher::new(x_option, y_option, &reference, Follow::Never).unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(
+                matcher.matches(&candidate_entry, &mut deps.new_matcher_io()),
+                expected,
+                "-newer{x_option}{y_option}"
+            );
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/find/mod.rs b/src/find/mod.rs
index 3b6ddd5f..5e59c40b 100644
--- a/src/find/mod.rs
+++ b/src/find/mod.rs
@@ -1241,7 +1241,8 @@ mod tests {
                     &deps,
                 );
 
-                assert_eq!(rc, 0);
+                let expected_rc = i32::from(cfg!(not(unix)) && y == "c");
+                assert_eq!(rc, expected_rc);
 
                 // -follow and -newerXY are separate argv tokens; they must not
                 // be glued into one string or the whole token is an unknown
@@ -1258,7 +1259,7 @@ mod tests {
                     &deps,
                 );
 
-                assert_eq!(rc, 0);
+                assert_eq!(rc, expected_rc);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/tests/test_find.rs b/tests/test_find.rs
index 9fc3db6d..753638e5 100644
--- a/tests/test_find.rs
+++ b/tests/test_find.rs
@@ -1221,6 +1221,163 @@ fn find_newer_xy() {
         ));
 }
 
+#[test]
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn find_newer_uses_reference_time_selected_by_y() {
+    use std::os::unix::fs::MetadataExt;
+
+    let dir = Builder::new()
+        .prefix("find_newer_reference_")
+        .tempdir()
+        .unwrap();
+    let candidate = dir.path().join("candidate");
+    let reference = dir.path().join("reference");
+    File::create(&candidate).unwrap();
+    File::create(&reference).unwrap();
+
+    let candidate_time = filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(946_684_802, 0);
+    let reference_time = filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(946_684_801, 0);
+    filetime::set_file_times(&candidate, candidate_time, candidate_time).unwrap();
+    filetime::set_file_times(&reference, reference_time, reference_time).unwrap();
+
+    for (option, should_print) in [
+        ("-newer", true),
+        ("-anewer", true),
+        ("-cnewer", true),
+        ("-newerac", false),
+        ("-newermc", false),
+    ] {
+        assert_newer_result(&candidate, option, &reference, should_print);
+    }
+
+    let reference_metadata = reference.metadata().unwrap();
+    let after_reference_change = filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(
+        reference_metadata.ctime() + 10,
+        reference_metadata.ctime_nsec() as u32,
+    );
+    filetime::set_file_times(&candidate, after_reference_change, after_reference_change).unwrap();
+    assert_newer_result(&candidate, "-newermc", &reference, true);
+
+    // Changing mtime does not make the candidate's ctime old.
+    let old_mtime = filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(631_152_000, 0);
+    filetime::set_file_times(&candidate, old_mtime, old_mtime).unwrap();
+    for option in ["-cnewer", "-newercm"] {
+        assert_newer_result(&candidate, option, &reference, true);
+    }
+}
+
+fn assert_newer_result(candidate: &Path, option: &str, reference: &Path, should_print: bool) {
+    let printed = format!("{}\n", candidate.display());
+    ucmd()
+        .arg(candidate)
+        .arg(option)
+        .arg(reference)
+        .arg("-print")
+        .succeeds()
+        .no_stderr()
+        .stdout_only(if should_print { &printed } else { "" });
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn find_newer_distinguishes_access_and_modification_times() {
+    let dir = Builder::new()
+        .prefix("find_newer_distinct_")
+        .tempdir()
+        .unwrap();
+    let candidate = dir.path().join("candidate");
+    let reference = dir.path().join("reference");
+    File::create(&candidate).unwrap();
+    File::create(&reference).unwrap();
+
+    let base = 946_684_800;
+    filetime::set_file_times(
+        &candidate,
+        filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(base + 200, 0),
+        filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(base + 300, 0),
+    )
+    .unwrap();
+    filetime::set_file_times(
+        &reference,
+        filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(base + 350, 0),
+        filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(base + 100, 0),
+    )
+    .unwrap();
+
+    for (option, should_print) in [
+        ("-neweraa", false),
+        ("-neweram", true),
+        ("-newerma", false),
+        ("-newermm", true),
+    ] {
+        assert_newer_result(&candidate, option, &reference, should_print);
+    }
+
+    filetime::set_file_times(
+        &reference,
+        filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(base + 250, 0),
+        filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(base + 200, 0),
+    )
+    .unwrap();
+    for (option, should_print) in [
+        ("-neweram", false), // Equal timestamps do not match.
+        ("-newermm", true),
+    ] {
+        assert_newer_result(&candidate, option, &reference, should_print);
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn find_newer_reference_symlink_obeys_follow_mode() {
+    let dir = Builder::new().prefix("find_newer_link_").tempdir().unwrap();
+    let candidate = dir.path().join("candidate");
+    let reference = dir.path().join("reference");
+    let link = dir.path().join("link");
+    File::create(&candidate).unwrap();
+    File::create(&reference).unwrap();
+    let candidate_time = filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(946_684_802, 0);
+    let reference_time = filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(946_684_801, 0);
+    let link_time = filetime::FileTime::from_unix_time(946_684_805, 0);
+    filetime::set_file_times(&candidate, candidate_time, candidate_time).unwrap();
+    filetime::set_file_times(&reference, reference_time, reference_time).unwrap();
+    symlink(&reference, &link).unwrap();
+    filetime::set_symlink_file_times(&link, link_time, link_time).unwrap();
+
+    let printed = format!("{}\n", candidate.display());
+    for (mode, should_print) in [("-P", false), ("-H", true), ("-L", true)] {
+        ucmd()
+            .arg(mode)
+            .arg(&candidate)
+            .arg("-newermm")
+            .arg(&link)
+            .arg("-print")
+            .succeeds()
+            .no_stderr()
+            .stdout_only(if should_print { &printed } else { "" });
+    }
+
+    // -follow changes how references in later predicates are read, but it
+    // cannot retroactively change a reference in an earlier predicate.
+    ucmd()
+        .arg(&candidate)
+        .arg("-follow")
+        .arg("-newermm")
+        .arg(&link)
+        .arg("-print")
+        .succeeds()
+        .no_stderr()
+        .stdout_only(&printed);
+    ucmd()
+        .arg(&candidate)
+        .arg("-newermm")
+        .arg(&link)
+        .arg("-follow")
+        .arg("-print")
+        .succeeds()
+        .no_stderr()
+        .no_stdout();
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn find_age_range() {
     let args = ["-amin", "-cmin", "-mmin"];