diff --git a/web/src/typeahead_helper.js b/web/src/typeahead_helper.js
index 8a8f38f708..b6fde756b5 100644
--- a/web/src/typeahead_helper.js
+++ b/web/src/typeahead_helper.js
@@ -387,21 +387,12 @@ export function sort_recipients({
         }
     }
 
-    // Push exact matches to top. We could do by passing the
-    // comparator parameter to triage, but that would break the
-    // optimization of only doing expensive sorting operations when
-    // necessary.
-    const exact_matches = [];
-    const rest = [];
-    for (const item of items) {
-        if (item.full_name?.toLowerCase() === query.toLowerCase()) {
-            exact_matches.push(item);
-        } else {
-            rest.push(item);
-        }
-    }
-
-    return [...exact_matches, ...rest].slice(0, max_num_items);
+    // We don't push exact matches to the top, like we do with other
+    // typeaheads, because in open organizations, it's not uncommon to
+    // have a bunch of inactive users with display names that are just
+    // FirstName, which we don't want to artificially prioritize over the
+    // the lone active user whose name is FirstName LastName.
+    return items.slice(0, max_num_items);
 }
 
 function slash_command_comparator(slash_command_a, slash_command_b) {
diff --git a/web/tests/composebox_typeahead.test.js b/web/tests/composebox_typeahead.test.js
index 7f58063583..5c905f637e 100644
--- a/web/tests/composebox_typeahead.test.js
+++ b/web/tests/composebox_typeahead.test.js
@@ -1784,8 +1784,8 @@ test("PM recipients sorted according to stream / topic being viewed", ({override
         (stream_id, user_id) => stream_id === denmark_stream.stream_id && user_id === alice.user_id,
     );
 
-    // When viewing denmark stream to which alice is subscribed, ali is still
-    // 1st by virtue of the name being an exact match with the query.
+    // When viewing denmark stream to which alice is subscribed, ali is not
+    // 1st despite having an exact name match with the query.
     results = ct.get_pm_people("ali");
-    assert.deepEqual(results, [ali, alice]);
+    assert.deepEqual(results, [alice, ali]);
 });