diff --git a/umap/autocomplete.py b/umap/autocomplete.py
index c2bd02c0..537fa634 100644
--- a/umap/autocomplete.py
+++ b/umap/autocomplete.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from agnocomplete.core import AgnocompleteModel
 from agnocomplete.register import register
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.db.models import Q
 
 
 @register
@@ -13,3 +14,24 @@ class AutocompleteUser(AgnocompleteModel):
         data = super().item(current_item)
         data["url"] = current_item.get_url()
         return data
+
+    def get_queryset_filters(self, query):
+        if len(query) <= 3 and self._force_exact:
+            conditions = Q()
+            for field_name in self.fields:
+                if not field_name[0].isalnum():
+                    field_name = field_name[1:]
+                # Force exact match
+                conditions |= Q(**{self._construct_qs_filter(f"={field_name}"): query})
+            return conditions
+
+        return super().get_queryset_filters(query)
+
+    def build_filtered_queryset(self, query, **kwargs):
+        self._force_exact = len(query) <= 3
+        qs = super().build_filtered_queryset(query, **kwargs)
+        if len(query) <= 3 and not len(qs):
+            # Not exact match, let's fallback to normal "startswith" query
+            self._force_exact = False
+            qs = super().build_filtered_queryset(query, **kwargs)
+        return qs
diff --git a/umap/tests/test_views.py b/umap/tests/test_views.py
index e13a9c9a..9a963c61 100644
--- a/umap/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/umap/tests/test_views.py
@@ -510,3 +510,18 @@ def test_can_combine_search_and_filter(client, map):
     url = reverse("search")
     response = client.get(url + "?q=dur&tags=bike")
     assert "Blé dur" in response.content.decode()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+def test_can_find_small_usernames(client):
+    UserFactory(username="Joe")
+    UserFactory(username="JoeJoe")
+    url = "/agnocomplete/AutocompleteUser/"
+    response = client.get(url + "?q=joe")
+    data = json.loads(response.content)["data"]
+    assert len(data) == 1
+    assert data[0]["label"] == "Joe"
+    response = client.get(url + "?q=joej")
+    data = json.loads(response.content)["data"]
+    assert len(data) == 1
+    assert data[0]["label"] == "JoeJoe"