diff --git a/internal/mod/modresolve/resolve.go b/internal/mod/modresolve/resolve.go
index 1faec6a82..bf37fbccc 100644
--- a/internal/mod/modresolve/resolve.go
+++ b/internal/mod/modresolve/resolve.go
@@ -155,8 +155,16 @@ func (r *registryConfig) init() error {
 		// Shouldn't happen because default should apply.
 		return fmt.Errorf("empty pathEncoding")
 	}
-	if r.StripPrefix && r.PathEncoding != encPath {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot strip prefix unless using path encoding")
+	if r.StripPrefix {
+		if r.PathEncoding != encPath {
+			// TODO we could relax this to allow storing of naked tags
+			// when the module path matches exactly and hash tags
+			// otherwise.
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot strip prefix unless using path encoding")
+		}
+		if r.repository == "" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("use of stripPrefix requires a non-empty repository within the registry")
+		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -388,6 +396,7 @@ func (r *resolver) ResolveToLocation(mpath, vers string) (Location, bool) {
 	bestMatchReg := r.cfg.DefaultRegistry
 	for pat, reg := range r.cfg.ModuleRegistries {
 		if pat == mpath {
+			bestMatch = pat
 			bestMatchReg = reg
 			break
 		}
diff --git a/internal/mod/modresolve/resolve_test.go b/internal/mod/modresolve/resolve_test.go
index 5bd15c226..70329be8f 100644
--- a/internal/mod/modresolve/resolve_test.go
+++ b/internal/mod/modresolve/resolve_test.go
@@ -381,6 +381,11 @@ moduleRegistries: {
 				Repository: "repo/one/two/three",
 				Tag:        "v0.0.1",
 			},
+			"stripped.org/bar v0.0.1": {
+				Host:       "r3.example",
+				Repository: "repo",
+				Tag:        "v0.0.1",
+			},
 		},
 	}, {
 		testName: "InvalidModulePath",
@@ -428,6 +433,18 @@ moduleRegistries: {
 }
 `,
 		err: `registry host "ok.com" is specified both as secure and insecure`,
+	}, {
+		testName:        "StripPrefixWithNoRepo",
+		catchAllDefault: "c.example",
+		in: `
+moduleRegistries: {
+	"a.example/foo": {
+		registry: "foo.example"
+		stripPrefix: true
+	}
+}
+`,
+		err: `invalid registry configuration in "a.example/foo": use of stripPrefix requires a non-empty repository within the registry`,
 	}}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {