diff --git a/etl/command.py b/etl/command.py
index 9a95a7c3919..73268fa72a7 100644
--- a/etl/command.py
+++ b/etl/command.py
@@ -92,6 +92,12 @@
     is_flag=True,
     help="Only run the selected step (no upstream or downstream dependencies). Overrides `--downstream` option.",
 )
+@click.option(
+    "--exact-match",
+    "-x",
+    is_flag=True,
+    help="Steps should exactly match the arguments (if so, pass the steps with their full name, e.g. 'data://garden/.../step_name').",
+)
 @click.option(
     "--exclude",
     "-e",
@@ -145,6 +151,7 @@ def main_cli(
     ipdb: bool = False,
     downstream: bool = False,
     only: bool = False,
+    exact_match: bool = False,
     exclude: Optional[str] = None,
     dag_path: Path = paths.DEFAULT_DAG_FILE,
     workers: int = 1,
@@ -195,6 +202,7 @@ def main_cli(
         export=export,
         downstream=downstream,
         only=only,
+        exact_match=exact_match,
         exclude=exclude,
         dag_path=dag_path,
         workers=workers,
@@ -227,6 +235,7 @@ def main(
     export: bool = False,
     downstream: bool = False,
     only: bool = False,
+    exact_match: bool = False,
     exclude: Optional[str] = None,
     dag_path: Path = paths.DEFAULT_DAG_FILE,
     workers: int = 1,
@@ -251,6 +260,7 @@ def main(
         private=private,
         downstream=downstream,
         only=only,
+        exact_match=exact_match,
         excludes=excludes,
         workers=workers,
         strict=strict,
@@ -302,6 +312,7 @@ def run_dag(
     private: bool = False,
     downstream: bool = False,
     only: bool = False,
+    exact_match: bool = False,
     excludes: Optional[List[str]] = None,
     workers: int = 1,
     strict: Optional[bool] = None,
@@ -322,7 +333,7 @@ def run_dag(
     # but are not supposed to be in DB
     excludes.append("grapher://grapher/regions/latest/regions")
 
-    steps = compile_steps(dag, includes, excludes, downstream=downstream, only=only)
+    steps = compile_steps(dag, includes, excludes, downstream=downstream, only=only, exact_match=exact_match)
 
     if not private:
         _validate_private_steps(steps)
diff --git a/etl/steps/__init__.py b/etl/steps/__init__.py
index d19a1eb7369..c8b53545257 100644
--- a/etl/steps/__init__.py
+++ b/etl/steps/__init__.py
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ def compile_steps(
     excludes: Optional[List[str]] = None,
     downstream: bool = False,
     only: bool = False,
+    exact_match: bool = False,
 ) -> List["Step"]:
     """
     Return the list of steps which, if executed in order, mean that every
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ def compile_steps(
     excludes = excludes or []
 
     # make sure each step runs after its dependencies
-    steps = to_dependency_order(dag, includes, excludes, downstream=downstream, only=only)
+    steps = to_dependency_order(dag, includes, excludes, downstream=downstream, only=only, exact_match=exact_match)
 
     # parse the steps into Python objects
     return [parse_step(name, dag) for name in steps]
diff --git a/tests/test_etl.py b/tests/test_etl.py
index 164b22128d1..34387bb4bc6 100644
--- a/tests/test_etl.py
+++ b/tests/test_etl.py
@@ -63,3 +63,32 @@ def get_all_steps(filename: Union[str, Path] = paths.DEFAULT_DAG_FILE) -> List[S
     dag = load_dag(filename)
     steps = compile_steps(dag, [])
     return steps
+
+
+def test_get_exact_matches():
+    dag = load_dag("tests/data/dag.yml")
+
+    # Try all possible combinations of "exact_match" and "only" arguments, when passing the full step uri as arguments.
+    assert [s.path for s in compile_steps(dag, includes=["data://test/step_1"], exact_match=True, only=True)] == [
+        "test/step_1"
+    ]
+    assert [s.path for s in compile_steps(dag, includes=["data://test/step_1"], exact_match=True, only=False)] == [
+        "test/step_0",
+        "test/step_1",
+    ]
+    assert [s.path for s in compile_steps(dag, includes=["data://test/step_1"], exact_match=False, only=True)] == [
+        "test/step_1"
+    ]
+    assert [s.path for s in compile_steps(dag, includes=["data://test/step_1"], exact_match=False, only=False)] == [
+        "test/step_0",
+        "test/step_1",
+    ]
+
+    # Try all possible combinations of "exact_match" and "only" arguments, when passing a substring of the step uri.
+    assert [s.path for s in compile_steps(dag, includes=["step_1"], exact_match=True, only=True)] == []
+    assert [s.path for s in compile_steps(dag, includes=["step_1"], exact_match=True, only=False)] == []
+    assert [s.path for s in compile_steps(dag, includes=["step_1"], exact_match=False, only=True)] == ["test/step_1"]
+    assert [s.path for s in compile_steps(dag, includes=["step_1"], exact_match=False, only=False)] == [
+        "test/step_0",
+        "test/step_1",
+    ]