diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f1cff4e9..b626d2c5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org).
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Stricter-typed comparison testing in COUNTIF() and COUNTIFS() evaluation [Issue #1046](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/issues/1046) 
 - COUPNUM should not return zero when settlement is in the last period - [Issue #1020](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/issues/1020) and [PR #1021](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/pull/1021)
 
 ## [1.8.2] - 2019-07-08
diff --git a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Functions.php b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Functions.php
index 0a607c70..3e18eb8e 100644
--- a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Functions.php
+++ b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Functions.php
@@ -280,7 +280,9 @@ class Functions
         preg_match('/(=|<[>=]?|>=?)(.*)/', $condition, $matches);
         list(, $operator, $operand) = $matches;
 
-        if (!is_numeric($operand)) {
+        if (is_numeric(trim($operand, '"'))) {
+            $operand = trim($operand, '"');
+        } elseif (!is_numeric($operand)) {
             $operand = str_replace('"', '""', $operand);
             $operand = Calculation::wrapResult(strtoupper($operand));
         }
diff --git a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Statistical.php b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Statistical.php
index a7f7bb63..c50d8b69 100644
--- a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Statistical.php
+++ b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Statistical.php
@@ -1119,10 +1119,16 @@ class Statistical
 
         $aArgs = Functions::flattenArray($aArgs);
         $condition = Functions::ifCondition($condition);
+        $conditionIsNumeric = strpos($condition, '"') === false;
         // Loop through arguments
         foreach ($aArgs as $arg) {
             if (!is_numeric($arg)) {
+                if ($conditionIsNumeric) {
+                    continue;
+                }
                 $arg = Calculation::wrapResult(strtoupper($arg));
+            } elseif (!$conditionIsNumeric) {
+                continue;
             }
             $testCondition = '=' . $arg . $condition;
             if (Calculation::getInstance()->_calculateFormulaValue($testCondition)) {
@@ -1172,11 +1178,21 @@ class Statistical
             $valid = true;
 
             foreach ($conditions as $cidx => $condition) {
+                $conditionIsNumeric = strpos($condition, '"') === false;
                 $arg = $aArgsArray[$cidx][$index];
 
                 // Loop through arguments
                 if (!is_numeric($arg)) {
+                    if ($conditionIsNumeric) {
+                        $valid = false;
+
+                        break; // if false found, don't need to check other conditions
+                    }
                     $arg = Calculation::wrapResult(strtoupper($arg));
+                } elseif (!$conditionIsNumeric) {
+                    $valid = false;
+
+                    break; // if false found, don't need to check other conditions
                 }
                 $testCondition = '=' . $arg . $condition;
                 if (!Calculation::getInstance()->_calculateFormulaValue($testCondition)) {
diff --git a/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Calculation/StatisticalTest.php b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Calculation/StatisticalTest.php
index ea25b3f5..78a7a2ac 100644
--- a/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Calculation/StatisticalTest.php
+++ b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Calculation/StatisticalTest.php
@@ -13,6 +13,22 @@ class StatisticalTest extends TestCase
         Functions::setCompatibilityMode(Functions::COMPATIBILITY_EXCEL);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider providerCOUNTIF
+     *
+     * @param mixed $expectedResult
+     */
+    public function testCOUNTIF($expectedResult, ...$args)
+    {
+        $result = Statistical::COUNTIF(...$args);
+        self::assertEquals($expectedResult, $result, '', 1E-12);
+    }
+
+    public function providerCOUNTIF()
+    {
+        return require 'data/Calculation/Statistical/COUNTIF.php';
+    }
+
     /**
      * @dataProvider providerCOUNTIFS
      *
diff --git a/tests/data/Calculation/Statistical/COUNTIF.php b/tests/data/Calculation/Statistical/COUNTIF.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c0e69c67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/Calculation/Statistical/COUNTIF.php
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+<?php
+
+return [
+    [
+        2,
+        ['apples', 'oranges', 'peaches', 'apples'],
+        'apples',
+    ],
+    [
+        2,
+        ['ApPlEs', 'oranges', 'peaches', 'APPles'],
+        'aPpLeS',
+    ],
+    [
+        2,
+        [32, 54, 75, 86],
+        '>55',
+    ],
+    [
+        3,
+        [32, 54, 75, 86],
+        '<=75',
+    ],
+    [
+        2,
+        [6, 3, 4, 'X', ''],
+        '<=4',
+    ],
+    [
+        2,
+        [6, 3, 4, 'X', ''],
+        '<="4"',
+    ],
+];
diff --git a/tests/data/Calculation/Statistical/COUNTIFS.php b/tests/data/Calculation/Statistical/COUNTIFS.php
index 3f949b5a..32f64d71 100644
--- a/tests/data/Calculation/Statistical/COUNTIFS.php
+++ b/tests/data/Calculation/Statistical/COUNTIFS.php
@@ -3,30 +3,22 @@
 return [
     [
         2,
-        [
-            ['Y'],
-            ['Y'],
-            ['N'],
-        ],
+        ['Y', 'Y', 'N'],
         '=Y',
     ],
     [
         3,
-        [
-            ['A'],
-            ['B'],
-            ['C'],
-            ['B'],
-            ['B'],
-        ],
-        '=B',
-        [
-            ['C'],
-            ['B'],
-            ['A'],
-            ['B'],
-            ['B'],
-        ],
+        ['A', 'B', 'C', 'B', 'B'],
         '=B',
     ],
+    [
+        3,
+        ['C', 'B', 'A', 'B', 'B'],
+        '=B',
+    ],
+    [
+        2,
+        [1, 2, 3, 'B', '', false],
+        '<=2',
+    ],
 ];