diff --git a/www/scripts/search.js b/www/scripts/search.js
index c36f812b1b5a07b4d88553df4d23c0e1f9752306..f171f390cb7c62aba31f0dfc2b6908bfb6e25c99 100644
--- a/www/scripts/search.js
+++ b/www/scripts/search.js
@@ -35,7 +35,12 @@ async function profileSearchSubmitted(event) {
 
     const searchValue = document.getElementById("profileSearch").value
 
-    let profileMatches = users.filter((user) => user.username.includes(searchValue));
+    let profileMatches = users.filter((user) => user.username === searchValue);
+
+    //if there were no exact match, then check for partial match
+    if (profileMatches.length === 0){
+        profileMatches = users.filter((user) => user.username.includes(searchValue));
+    }
 
     try {
         window.location.assign(`profilepage.html?id=${profileMatches[0].id}`);