diff --git a/app/models/keyword_mute.rb b/app/models/keyword_mute.rb
index 8b54ad696e..b0229923d8 100644
--- a/app/models/keyword_mute.rb
+++ b/app/models/keyword_mute.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #  id         :integer          not null, primary key
 #  account_id :integer          not null
 #  keyword    :string           not null
+#  whole_word :boolean          default(TRUE), not null
 #  created_at :datetime         not null
 #  updated_at :datetime         not null
 #
@@ -32,12 +33,13 @@ class KeywordMute < ApplicationRecord
 
     def initialize(account_id)
       re = [].tap do |arr|
-        KeywordMute.where(account_id: account_id).select(:keyword, :id).find_each do |m|
-          arr << Regexp.escape(m.keyword.strip)
+        KeywordMute.where(account_id: account_id).select(:keyword, :id, :whole_word).find_each do |m|
+          boundary = m.whole_word ? '\b' : ''
+          arr << "#{boundary}#{Regexp.escape(m.keyword.strip)}#{boundary}"
         end
       end.join('|')
 
-      @regex = /\b(?:#{re})\b/i unless re.empty?
+      @regex = /#{re}/i unless re.empty?
     end
 
     def =~(str)
diff --git a/db/migrate/20171009222537_create_keyword_mutes.rb b/db/migrate/20171009222537_create_keyword_mutes.rb
index ee690e799a..ec0c756fbf 100644
--- a/db/migrate/20171009222537_create_keyword_mutes.rb
+++ b/db/migrate/20171009222537_create_keyword_mutes.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ class CreateKeywordMutes < ActiveRecord::Migration[5.1]
     create_table :keyword_mutes do |t|
       t.references :account, null: false
       t.string :keyword, null: false
+      t.boolean :whole_word, null: false, default: true
       t.timestamps
     end
 
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index 420bb0d2ee..c0704b13e3 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20171010025614) do
   create_table "keyword_mutes", force: :cascade do |t|
     t.bigint "account_id", null: false
     t.string "keyword", null: false
+    t.boolean "whole_word", default: true, null: false
     t.datetime "created_at", null: false
     t.datetime "updated_at", null: false
     t.index ["account_id"], name: "index_keyword_mutes_on_account_id"
diff --git a/spec/models/keyword_mute_spec.rb b/spec/models/keyword_mute_spec.rb
index de5d32bb42..c745051886 100644
--- a/spec/models/keyword_mute_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/keyword_mute_spec.rb
@@ -30,10 +30,16 @@ RSpec.describe KeywordMute, type: :model do
         expect(matcher =~ 'This is a hot take').to be_falsy
       end
 
-      it 'does not match substrings matching keywords' do
-        KeywordMute.create!(account: alice, keyword: 'take')
+      it 'considers word boundaries when matching' do
+        KeywordMute.create!(account: alice, keyword: 'bob', whole_word: true)
+
+        expect(matcher =~ 'bobcats').to be_falsy
+      end
+
+      it 'matches substrings if whole_word is false' do
+        KeywordMute.create!(account: alice, keyword: 'take', whole_word: false)
 
-        expect(matcher =~ 'This is a shiitake mushroom').to be_falsy
+        expect(matcher =~ 'This is a shiitake mushroom').to be_truthy
       end
 
       it 'matches keywords at the beginning of the text' do