diff --git a/library/cloud/nova_compute b/library/cloud/nova_compute
index af693229333..6e1730ed3b7 100644
--- a/library/cloud/nova_compute
+++ b/library/cloud/nova_compute
@@ -193,7 +193,11 @@ def _get_server_state(module, nova):
     try:
         servers = nova.servers.list(True, {'name': module.params['name']})
         if servers:
-            server = [x for x in servers if x.name == module.params['name']][0]
+            # the {'name': module.params['name']} will also return servers
+            # with names that partially match the server name, so we have to
+            # strictly filter here
+            servers = [x for x in servers if x.name == module.params['name']]
+            server = servers[0] if servers else None
     except Exception, e:
         module.fail_json(msg = "Error in getting the server list: %s" % e.message)
     if server and module.params['state'] == 'present':