diff --git a/app/Actions/Git/TicketKeyReferenceMatcher.php b/app/Actions/Git/TicketKeyReferenceMatcher.php
index 4972695..8dcacf4 100644
--- a/app/Actions/Git/TicketKeyReferenceMatcher.php
+++ b/app/Actions/Git/TicketKeyReferenceMatcher.php
@@ -6,9 +6,6 @@ class TicketKeyReferenceMatcher
 {
     public function matches(string $ticketKey, string $referenceName): bool
     {
-        return preg_match(
-            '/^'.preg_quote($ticketKey, '/').'(?=$|[-_\/])/i',
-            $referenceName,
-        ) === 1;
+        return str_contains(mb_strtolower($referenceName), mb_strtolower($ticketKey));
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Git/TicketKeyReferenceMatcherTest.php b/tests/Feature/Git/TicketKeyReferenceMatcherTest.php
index e0299e0..142ceb7 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Git/TicketKeyReferenceMatcherTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Git/TicketKeyReferenceMatcherTest.php
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ class TicketKeyReferenceMatcherTest extends TestCase
     use RefreshDatabase;
 
     /**
-     * Ensure a reference must start with the ticket key, regardless of case.
+     * Ensure a reference matches when it contains the ticket key, regardless of case.
      */
-    public function test_matcher_accepts_ticket_key_prefixes_case_insensitively(): void
+    public function test_matcher_accepts_references_containing_the_ticket_key_case_insensitively(): void
     {
         $matcher = app(TicketKeyReferenceMatcher::class);
 
@@ -22,16 +22,18 @@ class TicketKeyReferenceMatcherTest extends TestCase
         $this->assertTrue($matcher->matches('CORE-1', 'CORE-1_hotfix'));
         $this->assertTrue($matcher->matches('CORE-1', 'CORE-1'));
         $this->assertTrue($matcher->matches('CORE-1', 'core-1-login-form'));
+        $this->assertTrue($matcher->matches('CORE-1', 'CORE-10-login-form'));
+        $this->assertTrue($matcher->matches('CORE-1', 'MY-CORE-1-login-form'));
     }
 
     /**
-     * Ensure similar or embedded ticket keys are not treated as matches.
+     * Ensure references without the ticket key are not treated as matches.
      */
-    public function test_matcher_rejects_other_ticket_prefixes(): void
+    public function test_matcher_rejects_references_without_the_ticket_key(): void
     {
         $matcher = app(TicketKeyReferenceMatcher::class);
 
-        $this->assertFalse($matcher->matches('CORE-1', 'CORE-10-login-form'));
-        $this->assertFalse($matcher->matches('CORE-1', 'MY-CORE-1-login-form'));
+        $this->assertFalse($matcher->matches('CORE-1', 'CORE-2-login-form'));
+        $this->assertFalse($matcher->matches('CORE-1', 'feature/auth-cleanup'));
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Projects/ProjectTicketControllerTest.php b/tests/Feature/Projects/ProjectTicketControllerTest.php
index 285fa95..b586ccf 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Projects/ProjectTicketControllerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Projects/ProjectTicketControllerTest.php
@@ -338,18 +338,21 @@ class ProjectTicketControllerTest extends TestCase
                 ->component('projects/Ticket')
                 ->where('suggestedBranchName', 'core-1-branch-detail-test')
                 ->where('repositoryBranches.0.repository_connection.repository_full_name', 'core-team/kanbangit')
-                ->has('repositoryBranches.0.branches', 2)
+                ->has('repositoryBranches.0.branches', 3)
                 ->where('repositoryBranches.0.branches.0.name', 'CORE-1-login-form')
                 ->where('repositoryBranches.0.branches.1.name', 'CORE-1/fix-oauth')
+                ->where('repositoryBranches.0.branches.2.name', 'CORE-10-should-not-match')
                 ->where('repositoryBranches.1.repository_connection.repository_full_name', 'other-team/mobile')
                 ->where('repositoryBranches.1.repository_connection.has_personal_access', false)
                 ->where('repositoryBranches.1.branches', [])
-                ->has('repositoryPullRequests.0.pull_requests', 2)
+                ->has('repositoryPullRequests.0.pull_requests', 3)
                 ->where('repositoryPullRequests.0.pull_requests.0.number', '42')
                 ->where('repositoryPullRequests.0.pull_requests.0.title', 'Add login form')
                 ->where('repositoryPullRequests.0.pull_requests.0.status', 'open')
                 ->where('repositoryPullRequests.0.pull_requests.1.number', '43')
                 ->where('repositoryPullRequests.0.pull_requests.1.status', 'merged')
+                ->where('repositoryPullRequests.0.pull_requests.2.number', '99')
+                ->where('repositoryPullRequests.0.pull_requests.2.status', 'open')
                 ->where('repositoryPullRequests.1.repository_connection.repository_full_name', 'other-team/mobile')
                 ->where('repositoryPullRequests.1.repository_connection.has_personal_access', false)
                 ->where('repositoryPullRequests.1.pull_requests', []),