diff --git a/nipype/pipeline/engine/utils.py b/nipype/pipeline/engine/utils.py
index 29098e0ebf..09b4a4d1f0 100644
--- a/nipype/pipeline/engine/utils.py
+++ b/nipype/pipeline/engine/utils.py
@@ -796,7 +796,7 @@ def make_field_func(*pair):
             expansions = defaultdict(list)
             for node in graph_in.nodes_iter():
                 for src_id, edge_data in list(old_edge_dict.items()):
-                    if node._id.startswith(src_id):
+                    if (node._id.startswith(src_id + '.')):
                         expansions[src_id].append(node)
             for in_id, in_nodes in list(expansions.items()):
                 logger.debug("The join node %s input %s was expanded"