diff --git a/src/string_utils.c b/src/string_utils.c
index 7d94496b..5fa8dbb1 100644
--- a/src/string_utils.c
+++ b/src/string_utils.c
@@ -252,14 +252,18 @@ inline int utf8_compare(const char *str1, const char *str2) {
     return utf8_compare_len(str1, str2, strlen(str1));
 }
 
-size_t utf8_common_prefix(const char *str1, const char *str2) {
+
+size_t utf8_common_prefix_len(const char *str1, const char *str2, size_t len) {
     size_t common_prefix = 0;
 
+    if (len == 0) return common_prefix;
+
     int32_t c1 = 0;
     int32_t c2 = 0;
 
-    size_t len1 = strlen(str1);
-    size_t len2 = strlen(str2);
+    size_t remaining = len;
+
+    ssize_t len1, len2;
 
     uint8_t *ptr1 = (uint8_t *)str1;
     uint8_t *ptr2 = (uint8_t *)str2;
@@ -273,6 +277,9 @@ size_t utf8_common_prefix(const char *str1, const char *str2) {
             ptr1 += len1;
             ptr2 += len2;
             common_prefix += len1;
+            if (common_prefix >= len) {
+                return common_prefix;
+            }
         } else {
             break;
         }
@@ -281,6 +288,15 @@ size_t utf8_common_prefix(const char *str1, const char *str2) {
     return common_prefix;
 }
 
+size_t utf8_common_prefix(const char *str1, const char *str2) {
+    size_t len1 = strlen(str1);
+    size_t len2 = strlen(str2);
+
+    size_t len = len1 <= len2 ? len1 : len2;
+
+    return utf8_common_prefix_len(str1, str2, len);
+}
+
 
 size_t utf8_common_prefix_len_ignore_separators(const char *str1, const char *str2, size_t len) {
     if (len == 0) return 0;
diff --git a/src/string_utils.h b/src/string_utils.h
index 13be4e4f..8253989c 100644
--- a/src/string_utils.h
+++ b/src/string_utils.h
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ char *utf8_lower(const char *s); // returns a copy, caller frees
 int utf8_compare(const char *str1, const char *str2);
 int utf8_compare_len(const char *str1, const char *str2, size_t len);
 size_t utf8_common_prefix(const char *str1, const char *str2);
+size_t utf8_common_prefix_len(const char *str1, const char *str2, size_t len);
 size_t utf8_common_prefix_ignore_separators(const char *str1, const char *str2);
 size_t utf8_common_prefix_len_ignore_separators(const char *str1, const char *str2, size_t len);
 
diff --git a/src/trie_search.c b/src/trie_search.c
index 8276cef3..edf8967d 100644
--- a/src/trie_search.c
+++ b/src/trie_search.c
@@ -696,10 +696,11 @@ phrase_t trie_search_prefixes_from_index(trie_t *self, char *word, size_t len, u
                     }
                 }
 
-                match_len += utf8_common_prefix_len_ignore_separators((char *)ptr + char_len, (char *)current_tail + tail_pos, current_tail_len - tail_pos);
+                size_t tail_match_len = utf8_common_prefix_len((char *)ptr + char_len, (char *)current_tail + tail_pos, current_tail_len - tail_pos);
+                match_len += tail_match_len;
                 log_debug("match_len=%zu\n", match_len);
                 
-                if (match_len >= current_tail_len) {
+                if (tail_match_len == current_tail_len - tail_pos) {
                     if (first_char) phrase_start = idx;
                     phrase_len = (uint32_t)(idx + match_len) - phrase_start;
 
@@ -717,7 +718,7 @@ phrase_t trie_search_prefixes_from_index(trie_t *self, char *word, size_t len, u
                 if (terminal_node.check == node_id) {
                     log_debug("Transition to NUL byte matched\n");
                     if (terminal_node.base < 0) {
-                        phrase_len = idx + char_len - phrase_start;
+                        phrase_len = (uint32_t)(idx + char_len) - phrase_start;
                         data_node = trie_get_data_node(self, terminal_node);
                         value = data_node.data;
                     }