diff --git a/src/__tests__/getByApi.test.js b/src/__tests__/getByApi.test.js
index a2b2637d1..2756cff2d 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/getByApi.test.js
+++ b/src/__tests__/getByApi.test.js
@@ -50,3 +50,10 @@ test('supports a regex matcher', () => {
   expect(getByTestId(/view/)).toBeTruthy();
   expect(getAllByTestId(/text/)).toHaveLength(2);
 });
+
+test('throws when no text matching is found', () => {
+  const { getByText } = render(<Text>Hello</Text>);
+  expect(() => getByText('SomethingElse')).toThrowError(
+    'No instances found with text: SomethingElse'
+  );
+});
diff --git a/src/__tests__/queryByApi.test.js b/src/__tests__/queryByApi.test.js
index f7f39b991..b95f7488d 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/queryByApi.test.js
+++ b/src/__tests__/queryByApi.test.js
@@ -114,3 +114,32 @@ test('queryByText nested deep <CustomText> in <Text>', () => {
     ).queryByText('Hello World!')
   ).toBeTruthy();
 });
+
+test('queryByText subset of longer text', () => {
+  expect(
+    render(<Text>This is a long text</Text>).queryByText('long text')
+  ).toBeTruthy();
+});
+
+test('queryAllByText does not match several times the same text', () => {
+  const allMatched = render(
+    <Text nativeID="1">
+      Start
+      <Text nativeID="2">This is a long text</Text>
+    </Text>
+  ).queryAllByText('long text');
+  expect(allMatched.length).toBe(1);
+  expect(allMatched[0].props.nativeID).toBe('2');
+});
+
+test('queryAllByText matches all the matching nodes', () => {
+  const allMatched = render(
+    <Text nativeID="1">
+      Start
+      <Text nativeID="2">This is a long text</Text>
+      <Text nativeID="3">This is another long text</Text>
+    </Text>
+  ).queryAllByText('long text');
+  expect(allMatched.length).toBe(2);
+  expect(allMatched.map((node) => node.props.nativeID)).toEqual(['2', '3']);
+});
diff --git a/src/helpers/getByAPI.js b/src/helpers/getByAPI.js
index 844820125..d8bbac387 100644
--- a/src/helpers/getByAPI.js
+++ b/src/helpers/getByAPI.js
@@ -20,12 +20,29 @@ const getNodeByText = (node, text) => {
       const textChildren = getChildrenAsText(node.props.children, Text);
       if (textChildren) {
         const textToTest = textChildren.join('');
-        return typeof text === 'string'
-          ? text === textToTest
-          : text.test(textToTest);
+        if (typeof text === 'string') {
+          if (text === textToTest) {
+            return { exact: true };
+          } else {
+            if (textToTest.includes(text)) {
+              return {
+                exact: false,
+                text,
+              };
+            }
+
+            return null;
+          }
+        } else {
+          return text.test(textToTest)
+            ? {
+                exact: true,
+              }
+            : null;
+        }
       }
     }
-    return false;
+    return null;
   } catch (error) {
     throw createLibraryNotSupportedError(error);
   }
@@ -95,13 +112,46 @@ const getNodeByTestId = (node, testID) => {
     : testID.test(node.props.testID);
 };
 
+export const nonErroringGetByText = (instance: ReactTestInstance) =>
+  function nonErroringGetByTextFn(text: string | RegExp) {
+    const matchingInstances = instance.findAll((node) =>
+      getNodeByText(node, text)
+    );
+    if (matchingInstances.length === 0) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    const matches = matchingInstances.map((instance: ReactTestInstance) => ({
+      instance,
+      ...getNodeByText(instance, text),
+    }));
+
+    // Sort the matches from the best to the worst (exact matches should come first, then closest
+    // matching text)
+    matches.sort((firstMatch, secondMatch) => {
+      if (firstMatch.exact) {
+        return -1;
+      }
+      if (secondMatch.exact) {
+        return 1;
+      }
+      return secondMatch.text.length - firstMatch.text.length;
+    });
+
+    return matches[0].instance;
+  };
+
 export const getByText = (instance: ReactTestInstance) =>
   function getByTextFn(text: string | RegExp) {
-    try {
-      return instance.find((node) => getNodeByText(node, text));
-    } catch (error) {
-      throw new ErrorWithStack(prepareErrorMessage(error), getByTextFn);
+    const match = nonErroringGetByText(instance)(text);
+    if (match) {
+      return match;
     }
+
+    throw new ErrorWithStack(
+      `No instances found with text: ${String(text)}`,
+      getByTextFn
+    );
   };
 
 export const getByPlaceholderText = (instance: ReactTestInstance) =>
@@ -148,9 +198,29 @@ export const getByTestId = (instance: ReactTestInstance) =>
     }
   };
 
-export const getAllByText = (instance: ReactTestInstance) =>
+export const getAllByText = (rootInstance: ReactTestInstance) =>
   function getAllByTextFn(text: string | RegExp) {
-    const results = instance.findAll((node) => getNodeByText(node, text));
+    const results = rootInstance.findAll((instance) => {
+      // We want to match only if there's no better match down the tree.
+      const match = getNodeByText(instance, text);
+      if (match && match.exact === false) {
+        const matchingInstances = instance.findAll((node) =>
+          getNodeByText(node, text)
+        );
+        if (matchingInstances.length === 0) {
+          return false;
+        }
+
+        if (matchingInstances.length === 1) {
+          return true;
+        }
+
+        // There's more than 1 match, that means that down the tree there will be a better matching node
+        return false;
+      }
+
+      return Boolean(match);
+    });
     if (results.length === 0) {
       throw new ErrorWithStack(
         `No instances found with text: ${String(text)}`,
diff --git a/src/helpers/queryByAPI.js b/src/helpers/queryByAPI.js
index 3d5ce8488..2e3280f3f 100644
--- a/src/helpers/queryByAPI.js
+++ b/src/helpers/queryByAPI.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import * as React from 'react';
 import {
   getByTestId,
-  getByText,
+  nonErroringGetByText,
   getByPlaceholderText,
   getByDisplayValue,
   getAllByTestId,
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import {
 export const queryByText = (instance: ReactTestInstance) =>
   function queryByTextFn(text: string | RegExp) {
     try {
-      return getByText(instance)(text);
+      return nonErroringGetByText(instance)(text);
     } catch (error) {
       return createQueryByError(error, queryByTextFn);
     }