diff --git a/api/filters/nameref/nameref.go b/api/filters/nameref/nameref.go
index 4815f10a298..3fc485a49d5 100644
--- a/api/filters/nameref/nameref.go
+++ b/api/filters/nameref/nameref.go
@@ -284,9 +284,9 @@ func (f Filter) roleRefFilter() sieveFunc {
 	return previousIdSelectedByGvk(roleRefGvk)
 }
 
-func prefixSuffixEquals(other resource.ResCtx) sieveFunc {
+func prefixSuffixEquals(other resource.ResCtx, allowEmpty bool) sieveFunc {
 	return func(r *resource.Resource) bool {
-		return r.PrefixesSuffixesEquals(other)
+		return r.PrefixesSuffixesEquals(other, allowEmpty)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -325,7 +325,10 @@ func (f Filter) selectReferral(
 	if len(candidates) == 1 {
 		return candidates[0], nil
 	}
-	candidates = doSieve(candidates, prefixSuffixEquals(f.Referrer))
+	candidates = doSieve(candidates, prefixSuffixEquals(f.Referrer, true))
+	if len(candidates) > 1 {
+          candidates = doSieve(candidates, prefixSuffixEquals(f.Referrer, false))
+	}
 	if len(candidates) == 1 {
 		return candidates[0], nil
 	}
diff --git a/api/resource/resource.go b/api/resource/resource.go
index c8405a4af6a..a6450710936 100644
--- a/api/resource/resource.go
+++ b/api/resource/resource.go
@@ -290,12 +290,18 @@ func (r *Resource) getCsvAnnotation(name string) []string {
 // PrefixesSuffixesEquals is conceptually doing the same task
 // as OutermostPrefixSuffix but performs a deeper comparison
 // of the suffix and prefix slices.
-func (r *Resource) PrefixesSuffixesEquals(o ResCtx) bool {
-	eitherPrefixEmpty := len(r.GetNamePrefixes()) == 0 || len(o.GetNamePrefixes()) == 0
-	eitherSuffixEmpty := len(r.GetNameSuffixes()) == 0 || len(o.GetNameSuffixes()) == 0
+func (r *Resource) PrefixesSuffixesEquals(o ResCtx, allowEmpty bool) bool {
+	if allowEmpty {
+		eitherPrefixEmpty := len(r.GetNamePrefixes()) == 0 || len(o.GetNamePrefixes()) == 0
+		eitherSuffixEmpty := len(r.GetNameSuffixes()) == 0 || len(o.GetNameSuffixes()) == 0
 
-	return (eitherPrefixEmpty || utils.SameEndingSubSlice(r.GetNamePrefixes(), o.GetNamePrefixes())) &&
-		(eitherSuffixEmpty || utils.SameEndingSubSlice(r.GetNameSuffixes(), o.GetNameSuffixes()))
+		return (eitherPrefixEmpty || utils.SameEndingSubSlice(r.GetNamePrefixes(), o.GetNamePrefixes())) &&
+			(eitherSuffixEmpty || utils.SameEndingSubSlice(r.GetNameSuffixes(), o.GetNameSuffixes()))
+	} else {
+		return utils.SameEndingSubSlice(r.GetNamePrefixes(), o.GetNamePrefixes()) &&
+			utils.SameEndingSubSlice(r.GetNameSuffixes(), o.GetNameSuffixes())
+
+	}
 }
 
 // RemoveBuildAnnotations removes annotations created by the build process.