diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Routing/UrlProviderTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Routing/UrlProviderTests.cs
index 070c68468a..038211b86a 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Routing/UrlProviderTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Routing/UrlProviderTests.cs
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Routing
         [Test]
         public void Get_Url_For_Culture_Variant_With_Current_Url()
         {
-            const string currentUri = "http://example.com/fr/test";
+            const string currentUri = "http://example.fr/test";
 
             var globalSettings = Mock.Get(TestObjects.GetGlobalSettings()); //this will modify the IGlobalSettings instance stored in the container
             globalSettings.Setup(x => x.UseDirectoryUrls).Returns(true);
@@ -180,8 +180,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Routing
                     if (contentId != 9876) return Enumerable.Empty<Domain>();
                     return new[]
                     {
-                        new Domain(2, "example.com/en", 9876, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), false, true), //default
-                        new Domain(3, "example.com/fr", 9876, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("fr-FR"), false, true)
+                        new Domain(2, "example.us", 9876, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), false, true), //default
+                        new Domain(3, "example.fr", 9876, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("fr-FR"), false, true)
                     };
                 });
 
@@ -201,8 +201,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Routing
 
             var url = umbracoContext.UrlProvider.GetUrl(1234, "fr-FR");
 
-            //the current uri is the culture specific domain we want, so the result is a relative path since we are on the culture specific domain
-            Assert.AreEqual("/fr/home/test-fr/", url);
+            Assert.AreEqual("/home/test-fr/", url);
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -211,7 +210,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Routing
         [Test]
         public void Get_Url_For_Culture_Variant_Non_Current_Url()
         {
-            const string currentUri = "http://example.com/en/test";
+            const string currentUri = "http://example.us/test";
 
             var globalSettings = Mock.Get(TestObjects.GetGlobalSettings()); //this will modify the IGlobalSettings instance stored in the container
             globalSettings.Setup(x => x.UseDirectoryUrls).Returns(true);
@@ -232,8 +231,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Routing
                     if (contentId != 9876) return Enumerable.Empty<Domain>();
                     return new[]
                     {
-                        new Domain(2, "example.com/en", 9876, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), false, true), //default
-                        new Domain(3, "example.com/fr", 9876, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("fr-FR"), false, true)
+                        new Domain(2, "example.us", 9876, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), false, true), //default
+                        new Domain(3, "example.fr", 9876, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("fr-FR"), false, true)
                     };
                 });
 
@@ -254,7 +253,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Routing
             var url = umbracoContext.UrlProvider.GetUrl(1234, "fr-FR");
 
             //the current uri is not the culture specific domain we want, so the result is an absolute path to the culture specific domain
-            Assert.AreEqual("http://example.com/fr/home/test-fr/", url);
+            Assert.AreEqual("http://example.fr/home/test-fr/", url);
         }
 
         [Test]
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/DefaultUrlProvider.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/DefaultUrlProvider.cs
index 0ea0c950da..6a01250221 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/DefaultUrlProvider.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/DefaultUrlProvider.cs
@@ -168,8 +168,9 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Routing
             else // a domain was found
             {
                 if (mode == UrlProviderMode.Auto)
-                {
-                    if (current != null && current.GetLeftPart(UriPartial.Path).InvariantStartsWith(domainUri.Uri.GetLeftPart(UriPartial.Path)))
+                {
+                    //this check is a little tricky, we can't just compare domains
+                    if (current != null && domainUri.Uri.GetLeftPart(UriPartial.Authority) == current.GetLeftPart(UriPartial.Authority))
                         mode = UrlProviderMode.Relative;
                     else
                         mode = UrlProviderMode.Absolute;
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/DomainHelper.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/DomainHelper.cs
index db051c20c5..76a0845113 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/DomainHelper.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/DomainHelper.cs
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Routing
             DomainAndUri domainAndUri;
             if (current == null)
             {
+                //match either by culture (if specified) or default
+
                 //get the default domain or the one matching the culture if specified
                 domainAndUri = domainsAndUris.FirstOrDefault(x => culture.IsNullOrWhiteSpace() ? x.IsDefault : x.Culture.Name.InvariantEquals(culture));
 
@@ -133,25 +135,32 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Routing
 
                 if (domainAndUri == null)
                     domainAndUri = domainsAndUris.First(); // take the first one by default (what else can we do?)
+            }
+            else if (!culture.IsNullOrWhiteSpace())
+            {
+                //match by culture
+
+                domainAndUri = domainsAndUris.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Culture.Name.InvariantEquals(culture));
+                if (domainAndUri == null)
+                    throw new InvalidOperationException($"No domain was found by the specified culture '{culture}'");
+                return domainAndUri;
             }
             else
-            {
+            {
+                //try to match by current, else filter
+
                 // look for the first domain that would be the base of the current url
                 // ie current is www.example.com/foo/bar, look for domain www.example.com
                 var currentWithSlash = current.EndPathWithSlash();
                 domainAndUri = domainsAndUris
-                    .FirstOrDefault(d => d.Uri.EndPathWithSlash().IsBaseOf(currentWithSlash));
-                //is culture specified? if so this will need to match too
-                if (domainAndUri != null && (culture.IsNullOrWhiteSpace() || domainAndUri.Culture.Name.InvariantEquals(culture)))
-                    return domainAndUri;
+                    .FirstOrDefault(d => d.Uri.EndPathWithSlash().IsBaseOf(currentWithSlash));
+                if (domainAndUri != null) return domainAndUri;
 
                 // if none matches, try again without the port
                 // ie current is www.example.com:1234/foo/bar, look for domain www.example.com
                 domainAndUri = domainsAndUris
-                    .FirstOrDefault(d => d.Uri.EndPathWithSlash().IsBaseOf(currentWithSlash.WithoutPort()));
-                //is culture specified? if so this will need to match too
-                if (domainAndUri != null && (culture.IsNullOrWhiteSpace() || domainAndUri.Culture.Name.InvariantEquals(culture)))
-                    return domainAndUri;
+                    .FirstOrDefault(d => d.Uri.EndPathWithSlash().IsBaseOf(currentWithSlash.WithoutPort()));
+                if (domainAndUri != null) return domainAndUri;
 
                 // if none matches, then try to run the filter to pick a domain
                 if (filter != null)