diff --git a/lib/Autocomplete.js b/lib/Autocomplete.js
index 1658c8bb..fa645a39 100644
--- a/lib/Autocomplete.js
+++ b/lib/Autocomplete.js
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ function getScrollOffset() {
   }
 }
 
+const startsWithIgnoreCase = (haystack, needle) =>
+    haystack.toLowerCase().indexOf(needle.toLowerCase()) === 0
+
 class Autocomplete extends React.Component {
 
   static propTypes = {
@@ -137,6 +140,16 @@ class Autocomplete extends React.Component {
      * menu.
      */
     autoHighlight: PropTypes.bool,
+    /**
+     * Arguments: `itemValue: String, searchValue: String, item: Any`
+     *
+     * Invoked when attempting to use an item as auto highlighted value. The
+     * return value is used to determine whether the item should be actually
+     * highlighted or not.
+     * By default we check whether the item value starts with the search value
+     * case insensitively.
+     */
+    isItemAutoHighlightMatch: PropTypes.func,
     /**
      * Whether or not to automatically select the highlighted item when the
      * `<input>` loses focus.
@@ -186,6 +199,7 @@ class Autocomplete extends React.Component {
       maxHeight: '50%', // TODO: don't cheat, let it flow to the bottom
     },
     autoHighlight: true,
+    isItemAutoHighlightMatch: startsWithIgnoreCase,
     selectOnBlur: false,
     onMenuVisibilityChange() {},
   }
@@ -391,7 +405,7 @@ class Autocomplete extends React.Component {
 
   maybeAutoCompleteText(state, props) {
     const { highlightedIndex } = state
-    const { value, getItemValue } = props
+    const { value, getItemValue, isItemAutoHighlightMatch } = props
     let index = highlightedIndex === null ? 0 : highlightedIndex
     let items = this.getFilteredItems(props)
     for (let i = 0; i < items.length ; i++) {
@@ -400,14 +414,11 @@ class Autocomplete extends React.Component {
       index = (index + 1) % items.length
     }
     const matchedItem = items[index] && props.isItemSelectable(items[index]) ? items[index] : null
-    if (value !== '' && matchedItem) {
-      const itemValue = getItemValue(matchedItem)
-      const itemValueDoesMatch = (itemValue.toLowerCase().indexOf(
-        value.toLowerCase()
-      ) === 0)
-      if (itemValueDoesMatch) {
-        return { highlightedIndex: index }
-      }
+    if (value !== ''
+        && matchedItem
+        && isItemAutoHighlightMatch(getItemValue(matchedItem), value, matchedItem)
+    ) {
+      return { highlightedIndex: index }
     }
     return { highlightedIndex: null }
   }