diff --git a/backend/src/api/explorer/channels.api.ts b/backend/src/api/explorer/channels.api.ts
index cf38610b4..b55c579a1 100644
--- a/backend/src/api/explorer/channels.api.ts
+++ b/backend/src/api/explorer/channels.api.ts
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ class ChannelsApi {
   public async $searchChannelsById(search: string): Promise<any[]> {
     try {
       // restrict search to valid id/short_id prefix formats
-      let searchStripped = search.match(/[0-9]+[0-9x]*/)?.[0] || '';
+      let searchStripped = search.match(/^[0-9]+[0-9x]*/)?.[0] || '';
       if (!searchStripped.length) {
         return [];
       }
diff --git a/contributors/afahrer.txt b/contributors/afahrer.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1ce6dc8e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contributors/afahrer.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+I hereby accept the terms of the Contributor License Agreement in the CONTRIBUTING.md file of the mempool/mempool git repository as of January 23, 2024.
+
+Signed: afahrer
\ No newline at end of file