diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/template/template.go b/internal/ingress/controller/template/template.go
index 0e03007433..8668920b0f 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/template/template.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/template/template.go
@@ -526,14 +526,18 @@ func buildLocation(input interface{}, enforceRegex bool) string {
 	}
 
 	path := location.Path
-	if enforceRegex {
-		return fmt.Sprintf(`~* "^%s"`, path)
-	}
 
 	if location.PathType != nil && *location.PathType == networkingv1.PathTypeExact {
+		if enforceRegex {
+			return fmt.Sprintf(`~* "^%s$"`, path)
+		}
 		return fmt.Sprintf(`= %s`, path)
 	}
 
+	if enforceRegex {
+		return fmt.Sprintf(`~* "^%s"`, path)
+	}
+
 	return path
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/template/template_test.go b/internal/ingress/controller/template/template_test.go
index 6553f5daf9..a42c7be0b0 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/template/template_test.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/template/template_test.go
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ var (
 		XForwardedPrefix  string
 		SecureBackend     bool
 		enforceRegex      bool
+		pathType          networking.PathType
 	}{
 		"when secure backend enabled": {
 			"/",
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@ var (
 			"",
 			true,
 			false,
+			networking.PathTypePrefix,
 		},
 		"when secure backend and dynamic config enabled": {
 			"/",
@@ -89,6 +91,7 @@ var (
 			"",
 			true,
 			false,
+			networking.PathTypePrefix,
 		},
 		"when secure backend, stickiness and dynamic config enabled": {
 			"/",
@@ -100,6 +103,7 @@ var (
 			"",
 			true,
 			false,
+			networking.PathTypePrefix,
 		},
 		"invalid redirect / to / with dynamic config enabled": {
 			"/",
@@ -111,6 +115,7 @@ var (
 			"",
 			false,
 			false,
+			networking.PathTypePrefix,
 		},
 		"invalid redirect / to /": {
 			"/",
@@ -122,6 +127,7 @@ var (
 			"",
 			false,
 			false,
+			networking.PathTypePrefix,
 		},
 		"redirect / to /jenkins": {
 			"/",
@@ -137,6 +143,7 @@ proxy_pass $scheme://upstream_balancer;`,
 			"",
 			false,
 			true,
+			networking.PathTypePrefix,
 		},
 		"redirect / to /something with sticky enabled": {
 			"/",
@@ -152,6 +159,7 @@ proxy_pass $scheme://upstream_balancer;`,
 			"",
 			false,
 			true,
+			networking.PathTypePrefix,
 		},
 		"redirect / to /something with sticky and dynamic config enabled": {
 			"/",
@@ -167,6 +175,7 @@ proxy_pass $scheme://upstream_balancer;`,
 			"",
 			false,
 			true,
+			networking.PathTypePrefix,
 		},
 		"add the X-Forwarded-Prefix header": {
 			"/there",
@@ -184,6 +193,7 @@ proxy_pass $scheme://upstream_balancer;`,
 			"/there",
 			false,
 			true,
+			networking.PathTypePrefix,
 		},
 		"use ~* location modifier when ingress does not use rewrite/regex target but at least one other ingress does": {
 			"/something",
@@ -195,6 +205,19 @@ proxy_pass $scheme://upstream_balancer;`,
 			"",
 			false,
 			true,
+			networking.PathTypePrefix,
+		},
+		"exact paths should remain exact when enforce regex is enabled": {
+			"/something",
+			"/something",
+			`~* "^/something$"`,
+			"proxy_pass http://upstream_balancer;",
+			"proxy_pass $scheme://upstream_balancer;",
+			false,
+			"",
+			false,
+			true,
+			networking.PathTypeExact,
 		},
 	}
 )
@@ -319,7 +342,7 @@ func TestBuildLocation(t *testing.T) {
 	for k, tc := range tmplFuncTestcases {
 		loc := &ingress.Location{
 			Path:     tc.Path,
-			PathType: &pathPrefix,
+			PathType: &tc.pathType,
 			Rewrite:  rewrite.Config{Target: tc.Target},
 		}
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/annotations/rewrite.go b/test/e2e/annotations/rewrite.go
index 173df29f00..4bccc339d6 100644
--- a/test/e2e/annotations/rewrite.go
+++ b/test/e2e/annotations/rewrite.go
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ var _ = framework.DescribeAnnotation("rewrite-target use-regex enable-rewrite-lo
 		f.WaitForNginxServer(host,
 			func(server string) bool {
 				return strings.Contains(server, `location ~* "^/" {`) &&
-					strings.Contains(server, `location ~* "^/.well-known/acme/challenge" {`)
+					strings.Contains(server, `location ~* "^/.well-known/acme/challenge$" {`)
 			})
 
 		ginkgo.By("making a second request to the non-rewritten location")
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ var _ = framework.DescribeAnnotation("rewrite-target use-regex enable-rewrite-lo
 
 		f.WaitForNginxServer(host,
 			func(server string) bool {
-				return strings.Contains(server, `location ~* "^/foo" {`) &&
+				return strings.Contains(server, `location ~* "^/foo$" {`) &&
 					strings.Contains(server, `location ~* "^/foo.+" {`)
 			})
 
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ var _ = framework.DescribeAnnotation("rewrite-target use-regex enable-rewrite-lo
 
 		f.WaitForNginxServer(host,
 			func(server string) bool {
-				return strings.Contains(server, `location ~* "^/foo/bar/bar" {`) &&
+				return strings.Contains(server, `location ~* "^/foo/bar/bar$" {`) &&
 					strings.Contains(server, `location ~* "^/foo/bar/[a-z]{3}" {`)
 			})
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/ingress/pathtype_exact.go b/test/e2e/ingress/pathtype_exact.go
index 2660e32a45..4fcca50e08 100644
--- a/test/e2e/ingress/pathtype_exact.go
+++ b/test/e2e/ingress/pathtype_exact.go
@@ -113,4 +113,44 @@ var _ = framework.IngressNginxDescribe("[Ingress] [PathType] exact", func() {
 		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, "pathtype=exact")
 		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, "duplicated=true")
 	})
+
+	ginkgo.It("should respect exact type when using regex matching", func() {
+		disableSnippet := f.AllowSnippetConfiguration()
+		defer disableSnippet()
+
+		host := "exact.path"
+
+		annotations := map[string]string{
+			"nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/configuration-snippet": `more_set_input_headers "pathType: exact";`,
+			"nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/use-regex":             "true",
+		}
+
+		exactPathType := networking.PathTypeExact
+		ing := framework.NewSingleIngress("exact", "/exact", host, f.Namespace, framework.EchoService, 80, annotations)
+		ing.Spec.Rules[0].IngressRuleValue.HTTP.Paths[0].PathType = &exactPathType
+		f.EnsureIngress(ing)
+
+		f.WaitForNginxServer(host,
+			func(server string) bool {
+				return strings.Contains(server, host) &&
+					strings.Contains(server, `location ~* "^/exact$"`)
+			})
+
+		body := f.HTTPTestClient().
+			GET("/exact").
+			WithHeader("Host", host).
+			Expect().
+			Status(http.StatusOK).
+			Body().
+			Raw()
+
+		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, "pathtype=prefix")
+		assert.Contains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, "pathtype=exact")
+
+		f.HTTPTestClient().
+			GET("/exact/suffix").
+			WithHeader("Host", host).
+			Expect().
+			Status(http.StatusNotFound)
+	})
 })