diff --git a/updateHostsFile.py b/updateHostsFile.py
index 1bb937c1b..4dc5a885b 100644
--- a/updateHostsFile.py
+++ b/updateHostsFile.py
@@ -955,7 +955,7 @@ def remove_dups_and_excl(merge_file, exclusion_regexes, output_file=None):
         )
 
         for exclude in exclusions:
-            if re.search(r"[\s\.]" + re.escape(exclude) + r"\s", line):
+            if re.search(r"(^|[\s\.])" + re.escape(exclude) + r"\s", line):
                 write_line = False
                 break