diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/10033-adam-jian-zhang b/changelogs/unreleased/10033-adam-jian-zhang
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..62a676ab9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/10033-adam-jian-zhang
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix issue #10032, prioritize exact namespace match in restore
diff --git a/design/restore-filter-enhancement/fine-grained-restore-filters-design.md b/design/restore-filter-enhancement/fine-grained-restore-filters-design.md
index 0e4107171..913c056c0 100644
--- a/design/restore-filter-enhancement/fine-grained-restore-filters-design.md
+++ b/design/restore-filter-enhancement/fine-grained-restore-filters-design.md
@@ -307,6 +307,9 @@ The `getNamespaceFilter()` method on `restoreContext` takes the original namespa
 **Plugin Additional Items (Restore-Side):**
 Like the backup side — which is permissive at Stage 2 to allow CSI plugin-injected resources through — the restore side is permissive for AdditionalItems in `restoreItem()`. If a restore plugin requests an additional item, it is allowed to bypass the fine-grained `namespacedFilterPolicies` and `clusterScopedFilterPolicy` kind, name, and label selector checks. This allows plugins to successfully restore dependencies (like a PV needed by a PVC, or a specific Secret) without the user having to explicitly authorize every single dependent resource type in their configuration. Note that these additional items must still pass global resource/namespace exclusions.
 
+**Exact Namespace Match Priority:**
+If a namespace matches both an exact name pattern and a glob pattern across different `namespacedFilterPolicies` entries, the exact match always takes precedence, regardless of list order. This aligns with the backup pipeline behavior and ensures specific overrides are always honored.
+
 **Multiple Glob Patterns Matching Same Namespace (Incorrect Order):**
 ```yaml
 namespacedFilterPolicies:
@@ -665,7 +668,7 @@ data:
 
 ### Restore with Glob Namespace Patterns
 
-Apply the same filter to all namespaces matching a pattern. **Critical: Order patterns from most specific to least specific:**
+Apply the same filter to all namespaces matching a pattern. **Note on Precedence:** Exact namespace matches always take precedence regardless of where they are listed. However, if multiple glob patterns could match a namespace, they are evaluated in the order they appear. Always list specific globs before broad globs.
 
 ```yaml
 apiVersion: v1
@@ -677,19 +680,21 @@ data:
   policy: |
     version: v1
     namespacedFilterPolicies:
-      # More specific patterns first
+      # Globs must be ordered specific-to-broad
       - namespaces:
-          - "team-frontend-prod"      # Most specific (exact match)
-        resourceFilters:
-          - kinds: [Deployment, Service, ConfigMap, Secret, PersistentVolumeClaim]
-      - namespaces:
-          - "team-frontend-*"         # Less specific (pattern match)
+          - "team-frontend-*"         # specific pattern match
         resourceFilters:
           - kinds: [Deployment, Service, ConfigMap]
       - namespaces:
-          - "team-*"                  # Least specific (broad pattern)
+          - "team-*"                  # broad pattern
         resourceFilters:
           - kinds: [Deployment, Service]
+
+      # Exact matches always win, even if placed at the bottom
+      - namespaces:
+          - "team-frontend-prod"      # exact match
+        resourceFilters:
+          - kinds: [Deployment, Service, ConfigMap, Secret, PersistentVolumeClaim]
 ```
 
 **Pattern Matching Results:**
diff --git a/pkg/restore/restore.go b/pkg/restore/restore.go
index a71fc4b23..8205accb9 100644
--- a/pkg/restore/restore.go
+++ b/pkg/restore/restore.go
@@ -478,7 +478,15 @@ func (ctx *restoreContext) getNamespaceFilter(namespace string) *resolvedNamespa
 		return filter
 	}
 
-	// 2. Walk patterns in definition order (first-match semantics)
+	// 2. Check for exact match first (O(1) map lookup)
+	// This ensures exact namespace matches take precedence over globs,
+	// regardless of where they are listed in the configuration.
+	if filter, ok := ctx.namespacedFilterMap[namespace]; ok {
+		ctx.namespaceFilterCache[namespace] = filter
+		return filter
+	}
+
+	// 3. Walk patterns in definition order using pre-compiled globs
 	// Note: namespaceFilterCache is mutated below without synchronization. This is safe
 	// today because resource collection runs sequentially. If the restore loop is
 	// parallelized in the future, these map writes will need a lock to prevent data races.
@@ -489,14 +497,10 @@ func (ctx *restoreContext) getNamespaceFilter(namespace string) *resolvedNamespa
 				ctx.namespaceFilterCache[namespace] = filter
 				return filter
 			}
-		} else if p.pattern == namespace {
-			filter := ctx.namespacedFilterMap[p.pattern]
-			ctx.namespaceFilterCache[namespace] = filter
-			return filter
 		}
 	}
 
-	// 3. Cache the miss so we don't re-evaluate failed matches
+	// 4. Cache the miss so we don't re-evaluate failed matches
 	ctx.namespaceFilterCache[namespace] = nil
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/restore/restore_policies_test.go b/pkg/restore/restore_policies_test.go
index 42b8fb11f..a027f66aa 100644
--- a/pkg/restore/restore_policies_test.go
+++ b/pkg/restore/restore_policies_test.go
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ namespacedFilterPolicies:
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			name:    "namespaced filter policy with glob namespace match and first-match semantics",
+			name:    "namespaced filter policy with exact match priority over glob (glob listed first)",
 			restore: defaultRestore().Result(),
 			backup:  defaultBackup().Result(),
 			policyYAML: `version: v1
@@ -94,7 +94,43 @@ namespacedFilterPolicies:
 				test.Pods(),
 			},
 			want: map[*test.APIResource][]string{
-				test.Pods(): {"ns-1/pod-1", "ns-2/pod-1"},
+				test.Pods(): {"ns-1/pod-2", "ns-2/pod-1"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "namespaced filter policy with exact match priority over glob (exact listed first)",
+			restore: defaultRestore().Result(),
+			backup:  defaultBackup().Result(),
+			policyYAML: `version: v1
+namespacedFilterPolicies:
+  - namespaces:
+      - ns-1
+    resourceFilters:
+      - kinds:
+          - pods
+        names:
+          - pod-2
+  - namespaces:
+      - ns-*
+    resourceFilters:
+      - kinds:
+          - pods
+        names:
+          - pod-1
+`,
+			tarball: test.NewTarWriter(t).
+				AddItems("pods",
+					builder.ForPod("ns-1", "pod-1").Result(),
+					builder.ForPod("ns-1", "pod-2").Result(),
+					builder.ForPod("ns-2", "pod-1").Result(),
+					builder.ForPod("ns-2", "pod-2").Result(),
+				).
+				Done(),
+			apiResources: []*test.APIResource{
+				test.Pods(),
+			},
+			want: map[*test.APIResource][]string{
+				test.Pods(): {"ns-1/pod-2", "ns-2/pod-1"},
 			},
 		},
 		{