diff --git a/extensions/php/src/features/completionItemProvider.ts b/extensions/php/src/features/completionItemProvider.ts
index 6eb3b0953db..426649fb314 100644
--- a/extensions/php/src/features/completionItemProvider.ts
+++ b/extensions/php/src/features/completionItemProvider.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ export default class PHPCompletionItemProvider implements CompletionItemProvider
 
 	public provideCompletionItems(document: TextDocument, position: Position, token: CancellationToken): Promise<CompletionItem[]> {
 		let result: CompletionItem[] = [];
+		var range  = document.getWordRangeAtPosition(position);
+		var prefix = range ? document.getText(range) : '';
 
 		var added : any = {};
 		var createNewProposal = function(kind: CompletionItemKind, name: string, entry: phpGlobals.IEntry) : CompletionItem  {
@@ -30,39 +32,45 @@ export default class PHPCompletionItemProvider implements CompletionItemProvider
 			return proposal;
 		};
 
+		var matches = (name:string) => {
+			return prefix.length === 0 || name.length > prefix.length && name.substr(0, prefix.length) === prefix;
+		}
+
 		for (var name in phpGlobals.globalvariables) {
-			if (phpGlobals.globalvariables.hasOwnProperty(name)) {
+			if (phpGlobals.globalvariables.hasOwnProperty(name) && matches(name)) {
 				added[name] = true;
 				result.push(createNewProposal(CompletionItemKind.Variable, name, phpGlobals.globalvariables[name]));
 			}
 		}
 		for (var name in phpGlobals.globalfunctions) {
-			if (phpGlobals.globalfunctions.hasOwnProperty(name)) {
+			if (phpGlobals.globalfunctions.hasOwnProperty(name) && matches(name)) {
 				added[name] = true;
 				result.push(createNewProposal(CompletionItemKind.Function, name, phpGlobals.globalfunctions[name]));
 			}
 		}
 		for (var name in phpGlobals.compiletimeconstants) {
-			if (phpGlobals.compiletimeconstants.hasOwnProperty(name)) {
+			if (phpGlobals.compiletimeconstants.hasOwnProperty(name) && matches(name)) {
 				added[name] = true;
 				result.push(createNewProposal(CompletionItemKind.Field, name, phpGlobals.compiletimeconstants[name]));
 			}
 		}
 		for (var name in phpGlobals.keywords) {
-			if (phpGlobals.keywords.hasOwnProperty(name)) {
+			if (phpGlobals.keywords.hasOwnProperty(name) && matches(name)) {
 				added[name] = true;
 				result.push(createNewProposal(CompletionItemKind.Keyword, name, phpGlobals.keywords[name]));
 			}
 		}
 
 		var text = document.getText();
-		var variableMatch = /\$([a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*)/g;
-		var match : RegExpExecArray = null;
-		while (match = variableMatch.exec(text)) {
-			var word = match[0];
-			if (!added[word]) {
-				added[word] = true;
-				result.push(createNewProposal(CompletionItemKind.Variable, word, null));
+		if (matches('$')) {
+			var variableMatch = /\$([a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*)/g;
+			var match : RegExpExecArray = null;
+			while (match = variableMatch.exec(text)) {
+				var word = match[0];
+				if (!added[word]) {
+					added[word] = true;
+					result.push(createNewProposal(CompletionItemKind.Variable, word, null));
+				}
 			}
 		}
 		var functionMatch = /function\s+([a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*)\s*\(/g;