diff --git a/src/plasma/pluginloader.cpp b/src/plasma/pluginloader.cpp
--- a/src/plasma/pluginloader.cpp
+++ b/src/plasma/pluginloader.cpp
@@ -550,10 +550,8 @@
     QList<KPluginMetaData> filtered;
     for (const KPluginMetaData &md : allApplets) {
         const QStringList urlPatterns = KPluginMetaData::readStringList(md.rawData(), QStringLiteral("X-Plasma-DropUrlPatterns"));
-        for (const QString &glob : urlPatterns) {
-            QRegExp rx(glob);
-            rx.setPatternSyntax(QRegExp::Wildcard);
-            if (rx.exactMatch(url.toString())) {
+        for (const QString &str : urlPatterns) {
+            if (url.toString().startsWith(str)) {
 #ifndef NDEBUG
                 // qCDebug(LOG_PLASMA) << md.name() << "matches" << glob << url;
 #endif