diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/template/template.go b/internal/ingress/controller/template/template.go
index 56098a505..8a1a7fee7 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/template/template.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/template/template.go
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ func buildLocation(input interface{}, enforceRegex bool) string {
 	}
 
 	if location.PathType != nil && *location.PathType == networkingv1beta1.PathTypeExact {
-		return fmt.Sprintf(`= %s`, path)
+		return fmt.Sprintf(`~ ^%s$`, path)
 	}
 
 	return path
diff --git a/test/e2e/ingress/pathtype_exact.go b/test/e2e/ingress/pathtype_exact.go
index c3be0d327..4edeff1b5 100644
--- a/test/e2e/ingress/pathtype_exact.go
+++ b/test/e2e/ingress/pathtype_exact.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ var _ = framework.IngressNginxDescribe("[Ingress] [PathType] exact", func() {
 		f.WaitForNginxServer(host,
 			func(server string) bool {
 				return strings.Contains(server, host) &&
-					strings.Contains(server, "location = /exact") &&
+					strings.Contains(server, "location ~ ^/exact$") &&
 					strings.Contains(server, "location /exact")
 			})
 
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ var _ = framework.IngressNginxDescribe("[Ingress] [PathType] exact", func() {
 		f.WaitForNginxServer(host,
 			func(server string) bool {
 				return strings.Contains(server, host) &&
-					strings.Contains(server, "location = /exact") &&
+					strings.Contains(server, "location ~ ^/exact$") &&
 					strings.Contains(server, "location /exact")
 			})