diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 125e183..aab5c17 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -141,11 +141,11 @@ default values.
   value, causes this script to perform a fuzzy search by words, matching in
   given order e.g. `ab c` will match `*ab*c*`
 
-* `HISTORY_SUBSTRING_SEARCH_PREFIX` is a global variable that defines
-  how the command history will be searched for your query. If set to a non-empty
-  value, only history prefixed by your query will be matched. For example,
-  if this variable is empty, `ls` will match `ls -l` and `echo ls`; if it is
-  non-empty, `ls` will only match `ls -l`.
+* `HISTORY_SUBSTRING_SEARCH_PREFIXED` is a global variable that defines how
+  the command history will be searched for your query. If set to a non-empty
+  value, your query will be matched against the start of each history entry.
+  For example, if this variable is empty, `ls` will match `ls -l` and `echo
+  ls`; if it is non-empty, `ls` will only match `ls -l`.
 
 * `HISTORY_SUBSTRING_SEARCH_ENSURE_UNIQUE` is a global variable that defines
   whether all search results returned are _unique_. If set to a non-empty
diff --git a/zsh-history-substring-search.zsh b/zsh-history-substring-search.zsh
index be21b78..1261e2e 100644
--- a/zsh-history-substring-search.zsh
+++ b/zsh-history-substring-search.zsh
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
 : ${HISTORY_SUBSTRING_SEARCH_GLOBBING_FLAGS='i'}
 : ${HISTORY_SUBSTRING_SEARCH_ENSURE_UNIQUE=''}
 : ${HISTORY_SUBSTRING_SEARCH_FUZZY=''}
-: ${HISTORY_SUBSTRING_SEARCH_PREFIX=''}
+: ${HISTORY_SUBSTRING_SEARCH_PREFIXED=''}
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # declare internal global variables
@@ -248,7 +248,13 @@ _history-substring-search-begin() {
     # `(j:CHAR:)` join array to string with CHAR as seperator
     #
     local search_pattern="${(j:*:)_history_substring_search_query_parts[@]//(#m)[\][()|\\*?#<>~^]/\\$MATCH}*"
-    test -z "$HISTORY_SUBSTRING_SEARCH_PREFIX" && search_pattern="*$search_pattern"
+
+    #
+    # Support anchoring history search to the beginning of the command
+    #
+    if [[ -z $HISTORY_SUBSTRING_SEARCH_PREFIXED ]]; then
+      search_pattern="*${search_pattern}"
+    fi
 
     #
     # Find all occurrences of the search pattern in the history file.