diff --git a/src/internfile/internfile.cpp b/src/internfile/internfile.cpp
index 4d885a6f..6a50c04a 100644
--- a/src/internfile/internfile.cpp
+++ b/src/internfile/internfile.cpp
@@ -102,6 +102,12 @@ string FileInterner::getLastIpathElt(const string& ipath)
     }
 }
 
+bool FileInterner::ipathContains(const string& parent, const string& child)
+{
+    return child.find(parent) == 0 &&
+        child.find(cstr_isep, parent.size()) == parent.size();
+}
+
 // Constructor: identify the input file, possibly create an
 // uncompressed temporary copy, and create the top filter for the
 // uncompressed file type.
diff --git a/src/internfile/internfile.h b/src/internfile/internfile.h
index 69d88b47..d2392036 100644
--- a/src/internfile/internfile.h
+++ b/src/internfile/internfile.h
@@ -206,6 +206,9 @@ class FileInterner {
     /** Return last element in ipath, like basename */
     static std::string getLastIpathElt(const std::string& ipath);
 
+    /** Check that 2nd param is child of first */
+    static bool ipathContains(const std::string& parent,
+                              const std::string& child);
     /** 
      * Build sig for doc coming from rcldb. This is here because we know how
      * to query the right backend. Used to check up-to-dateness at query time */
diff --git a/src/rcldb/rcldb.cpp b/src/rcldb/rcldb.cpp
index 51077278..51caccc1 100644
--- a/src/rcldb/rcldb.cpp
+++ b/src/rcldb/rcldb.cpp
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ using namespace std;
 #include "termproc.h"
 #include "expansiondbs.h"
 #include "rclinit.h"
+#include "internfile.h"
 
 // Recoll index format version is stored in user metadata. When this change,
 // we can't open the db and will have to reindex.
@@ -2119,15 +2120,23 @@ bool Db::hasSubDocs(const Doc &idoc)
 	LOGERR(("Db::hasSubDocs: no input udi or empty\n"));
 	return false;
     }
+    LOGDEB1(("Db::hasSubDocs: idxi %d inudi [%s]\n", idoc.idxi, inudi.c_str()));
+
+    // Not sure why we perform both the subDocs() call and the test on
+    // has_children. The former will return docs if the input is a
+    // file-level document, but the latter should be true both in this
+    // case and if the input is already a subdoc, so the first test
+    // should be redundant. Does not hurt much in any case, to be
+    // checked one day.
     vector<Xapian::docid> docids;
     if (!m_ndb->subDocs(inudi, idoc.idxi, docids)) {
-	LOGDEB(("Db:getSubDocs: lower level subdocs failed\n"));
+	LOGDEB(("Db::hasSubDocs: lower level subdocs failed\n"));
 	return false;
     }
     if (!docids.empty())
 	return true;
 
-    // Check if doc has an has_children term
+    // Check if doc has an "has_children" term
     if (m_ndb->hasTerm(inudi, idoc.idxi, has_children_term))
 	return true;
     return false;
@@ -2148,6 +2157,8 @@ bool Db::getSubDocs(const Doc &idoc, vector<Doc>& subdocs)
 
     string rootudi;
     string ipath = idoc.ipath;
+    LOGDEB0(("Db::getSubDocs: idxi %d inudi [%s] ipath [%s]\n",
+             idoc.idxi, inudi.c_str(), ipath.c_str()));
     if (ipath.empty()) {
 	// File-level doc. Use it as root
 	rootudi = inudi;
@@ -2178,7 +2189,7 @@ bool Db::getSubDocs(const Doc &idoc, vector<Doc>& subdocs)
     // Retrieve all subdoc xapian ids for the root
     vector<Xapian::docid> docids;
     if (!m_ndb->subDocs(rootudi, idoc.idxi, docids)) {
-	LOGDEB(("Db:getSubDocs: lower level subdocs failed\n"));
+	LOGDEB(("Db::getSubDocs: lower level subdocs failed\n"));
 	return false;
     }
 
@@ -2199,8 +2210,10 @@ bool Db::getSubDocs(const Doc &idoc, vector<Doc>& subdocs)
 		    LOGERR(("Db::getSubDocs: doc conversion error\n"));
 		    return false;
 		}
-		if (ipath.empty() || doc.ipath.find(ipath) == 0)
-		    subdocs.push_back(doc);
+                if (ipath.empty() ||
+                    FileInterner::ipathContains(ipath, doc.ipath)) {
+                    subdocs.push_back(doc);
+                }
 	    }
 	    return true;
 	} catch (const Xapian::DatabaseModifiedError &e) {