diff --git a/lib/repl.js b/lib/repl.js
index 71377b1cc7582d..33f72b6d12e7c5 100644
--- a/lib/repl.js
+++ b/lib/repl.js
@@ -659,11 +659,11 @@ REPLServer.prototype.complete = function(line, callback) {
 
   // REPL commands (e.g. ".break").
   var match = null;
-  match = line.match(/^\s*(\.\w*)$/);
+  match = line.match(/^\s*\.(\w*)$/);
   if (match) {
     completionGroups.push(Object.keys(this.commands));
     completeOn = match[1];
-    if (match[1].length > 1) {
+    if (match[1].length) {
       filter = match[1];
     }
 
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-repl-tab-complete.js b/test/parallel/test-repl-tab-complete.js
index 86a0444c953d27..0925222014f76f 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-repl-tab-complete.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-repl-tab-complete.js
@@ -306,3 +306,10 @@ putIn.run(['var obj = {1:"a","1a":"b",a:"b"};']);
 testMe.complete('obj.', common.mustCall(function(error, data) {
   assert.deepEqual(data, obj_elements);
 }));
+
+// tab completion for defined commands
+putIn.run(['.clear']);
+
+testMe.complete('.b', common.mustCall((error, data) => {
+  assert.deepStrictEqual(data, [['break'], 'b']);
+}));