diff --git a/apps/step_update/cli.py b/apps/step_update/cli.py
index 2a55a8a2833..d6818598c7a 100644
--- a/apps/step_update/cli.py
+++ b/apps/step_update/cli.py
@@ -342,6 +342,7 @@ def update_steps(
                 excludes=[],
                 downstream=False,
                 only=True,
+                exact_match=True,
             )
 
             message = "The following steps will be updated:"
diff --git a/etl/steps/__init__.py b/etl/steps/__init__.py
index f826ed4bbaa..d19a1eb7369 100644
--- a/etl/steps/__init__.py
+++ b/etl/steps/__init__.py
@@ -76,13 +76,18 @@ def to_dependency_order(
     excludes: List[str],
     downstream: bool = False,
     only: bool = False,
+    exact_match: bool = False,
 ) -> List[str]:
     """
     Organize the steps in dependency order with a topological sort. In other words,
     the resulting list of steps is a valid ordering of steps such that no step is run
     before the steps it depends on. Note: this ordering is not necessarily unique.
     """
-    subgraph = filter_to_subgraph(dag, includes, downstream=downstream, only=only) if includes else dag
+    subgraph = (
+        filter_to_subgraph(dag, includes, downstream=downstream, only=only, exact_match=exact_match)
+        if includes
+        else dag
+    )
     in_order = list(graphlib.TopologicalSorter(subgraph).static_order())
 
     # filter out explicit excludes
@@ -91,7 +96,9 @@ def to_dependency_order(
     return filtered
 
 
-def filter_to_subgraph(graph: Graph, includes: Iterable[str], downstream: bool = False, only: bool = False) -> Graph:
+def filter_to_subgraph(
+    graph: Graph, includes: Iterable[str], downstream: bool = False, only: bool = False, exact_match: bool = False
+) -> Graph:
     """
     Filter the full graph to only the included nodes, and all their dependencies.
 
@@ -102,7 +109,10 @@ def filter_to_subgraph(graph: Graph, includes: Iterable[str], downstream: bool =
     dependent on B).
     """
     all_steps = graph_nodes(graph)
-    included = {s for s in all_steps if any(re.findall(pattern, s) for pattern in includes)}
+    if exact_match:
+        included = set(includes) & all_steps
+    else:
+        included = {s for s in all_steps if any(re.findall(pattern, s) for pattern in includes)}
 
     if only:
         # Only include explicitly selected nodes