diff --git a/main/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/PdpGroupDeployProvider.java b/main/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/PdpGroupDeployProvider.java
index e861375..bc3148e 100644
--- a/main/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/PdpGroupDeployProvider.java
+++ b/main/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/PdpGroupDeployProvider.java
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@
      * Adds a new subgroup.
      *
      * @param data session data
-     * @param subgrp the subgroup to be added
+     * @param subgrp the subgroup to be added, updated to fully qualified versions upon return
      * @return the validation result
      * @throws PfModelException if an error occurred
      */
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@
      * @param data session data
      * @param dbgroup the group, from the DB, containing the subgroup
      * @param dbsub the subgroup, from the DB
-     * @param subgrp the subgroup to be updated
+     * @param subgrp the subgroup to be updated, updated to fully qualified versions upon return
      * @param container container for additional validation results
      * @return {@code true} if the subgroup content was changed, {@code false} if there
      *         were no changes
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@
      *
      * @param data session data
      * @param dbsub the subgroup, from the DB
-     * @param subgrp the subgroup to be validated
+     * @param subgrp the subgroup to be validated, updated to fully qualified versions upon return
      * @param container container for additional validation results
      * @return {@code true} if the subgroup is valid, {@code false} otherwise
      * @throws PfModelException if an error occurred
@@ -447,14 +447,15 @@
      *
      * @param data session data
      * @param dbsub subgroup from the DB, or {@code null} if this is a new subgroup
-     * @param subgrp the subgroup to be validated
+     * @param subgrp the subgroup whose policies are to be validated, updated to fully
+     *        qualified versions upon return
      * @param result the validation result
      * @throws PfModelException if an error occurred
      */
     private ValidationResult validatePolicies(SessionData data, PdpSubGroup dbsub, PdpSubGroup subgrp)
                     throws PfModelException {
 
-        // build a map of the DB data, from policy name to policy version
+        // build a map of the DB data, from policy name to (fully qualified) policy version
         Map<String, String> dbname2vers = new HashMap<>();
         if (dbsub != null) {
             dbsub.getPolicies().forEach(ident -> dbname2vers.put(ident.getName(), ident.getVersion()));
@@ -463,7 +464,17 @@
         BeanValidationResult result = new BeanValidationResult(subgrp.getPdpType(), subgrp);
 
         for (ToscaPolicyIdentifier ident : subgrp.getPolicies()) {
-            String actualVersion;
+            // note: "ident" may not have a fully qualified version
+
+            String expectedVersion = dbname2vers.get(ident.getName());
+            if (expectedVersion != null) {
+                // policy exists in the DB list - compare the versions
+                validateVersion(expectedVersion, ident, result);
+                ident.setVersion(expectedVersion);
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            // policy doesn't appear in the DB's policy list - look it up
 
             ToscaPolicy policy = data.getPolicy(new ToscaPolicyIdentifierOptVersion(ident));
             if (policy == null) {
@@ -474,11 +485,9 @@
                 result.addResult(new ObjectValidationResult(POLICY_RESULT_NAME, ident, ValidationStatus.INVALID,
                                 "not a supported policy for the subgroup"));
 
-            } else if ((actualVersion = dbname2vers.get(ident.getName())) != null
-                            && !actualVersion.equals(ident.getVersion())) {
-                // policy exists in the DB subgroup, but has the wrong version
-                result.addResult(new ObjectValidationResult(POLICY_RESULT_NAME, ident, ValidationStatus.INVALID,
-                                "different version already deployed: " + actualVersion));
+            } else {
+                // replace version with the fully qualified version from the policy
+                ident.setVersion(policy.getVersion());
             }
         }
 
@@ -486,6 +495,31 @@
     }
 
     /**
+     * Determines if the new version matches the version in the DB.
+     *
+     * @param dbvers fully qualified version from the DB
+     * @param ident identifier whose version is to be validated; the version need not be
+     *        fully qualified
+     * @param result the validation result
+     */
+    private void validateVersion(String dbvers, ToscaPolicyIdentifier ident, BeanValidationResult result) {
+        String idvers = ident.getVersion();
+        if (dbvers.equals(idvers)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // did not match - see if it's a prefix
+
+        if (SessionData.isVersionPrefix(idvers) && dbvers.startsWith(idvers + ".")) {
+            // ident has a prefix of this version
+            return;
+        }
+
+        result.addResult(new ObjectValidationResult(POLICY_RESULT_NAME, ident, ValidationStatus.INVALID,
+                        "different version already deployed: " + dbvers));
+    }
+
+    /**
      * Deploys or updates PDP policies using the simple API.
      *
      * @param policies PDP policies
diff --git a/main/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/SessionData.java b/main/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/SessionData.java
index ee83fb7..437d7a1 100644
--- a/main/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/SessionData.java
+++ b/main/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/SessionData.java
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
      * If a version string matches this, then it is just a prefix (i.e., major or
      * major.minor).
      */
-    private static final Pattern VERSION_PREFIX_PAT = Pattern.compile("[^.]+(?:[.][^.]*)?");
+    private static final Pattern VERSION_PREFIX_PAT = Pattern.compile("[^.]+(?:[.][^.]+)?");
 
     /**
      * DB provider.
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@
             // no version specified - get the latest
             filterBuilder.version(ToscaPolicyFilter.LATEST_VERSION);
 
-        } else if (VERSION_PREFIX_PAT.matcher(desiredVersion).matches()) {
+        } else if (isVersionPrefix(desiredVersion)) {
             // version prefix provided - match the prefix and then pick the latest
             filterBuilder.versionPrefix(desiredVersion + ".").version(ToscaPolicyFilter.LATEST_VERSION);
 
@@ -176,6 +176,17 @@
     }
 
     /**
+     * Determines if a version contains only a prefix.
+     *
+     * @param version version to inspect
+     * @return {@code true} if the version contains only a prefix, {@code false} if it is
+     *         fully qualified
+     */
+    public static boolean isVersionPrefix(String version) {
+        return VERSION_PREFIX_PAT.matcher(version).matches();
+    }
+
+    /**
      * Adds an update and state-change to the sets, replacing any previous entries for the
      * given PDP.
      *
diff --git a/main/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/TestPdpGroupDeployProvider.java b/main/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/TestPdpGroupDeployProvider.java
index 7590c64..90ea165 100644
--- a/main/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/TestPdpGroupDeployProvider.java
+++ b/main/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/TestPdpGroupDeployProvider.java
@@ -316,7 +316,9 @@
         subgrp.getPolicies().add(new ToscaPolicyIdentifier(POLICY2_NAME, POLICY1_VERSION));
         subgrp.getSupportedPolicyTypes().add(new ToscaPolicyTypeIdentifier("typeX", "9.8.7"));
 
-        when(dao.getFilteredPolicyList(any())).thenReturn(loadPolicies("daoPolicyList.json"))
+        when(dao.getFilteredPolicyList(any()))
+                        .thenReturn(loadPolicies("createGroupNewPolicy.json"))
+                        .thenReturn(loadPolicies("daoPolicyList.json"))
                         .thenReturn(loadPolicies("createGroupNewPolicy.json"));
 
         prov.createOrUpdateGroups(groups);
@@ -430,7 +432,7 @@
 
     @Test
     public void testAddSubGroup_ValidationPolicyNotFound() throws Exception {
-        PdpGroups groups = loadPdpGroups("createGroupsNewSub.json");
+        PdpGroups groups = loadPdpGroups("createGroupsNewSubNotFound.json");
         PdpGroup group = loadPdpGroups("createGroups.json").getGroups().get(0);
         when(dao.getPdpGroups(group.getName())).thenReturn(Arrays.asList(group));
 
@@ -441,7 +443,7 @@
 
     @Test
     public void testAddSubGroup_ValidationPolicyDaoEx() throws Exception {
-        PdpGroups groups = loadPdpGroups("createGroupsNewSub.json");
+        PdpGroups groups = loadPdpGroups("createGroupsNewSubNotFound.json");
         PdpGroup group = loadPdpGroups("createGroups.json").getGroups().get(0);
         when(dao.getPdpGroups(group.getName())).thenReturn(Arrays.asList(group));
 
@@ -452,6 +454,45 @@
     }
 
     @Test
+    public void testAddSubGroup_ValidateVersionPrefixMatch() throws Exception {
+        PdpGroups groups = loadPdpGroups("createGroups.json");
+        PdpGroup newgrp = groups.getGroups().get(0);
+        PdpGroup dbgroup = new PdpGroup(newgrp);
+        when(dao.getPdpGroups(dbgroup.getName())).thenReturn(Arrays.asList(dbgroup));
+
+        when(dao.getFilteredPolicyList(any())).thenReturn(loadPolicies("createGroupNewPolicy.json"))
+                        .thenReturn(loadPolicies("daoPolicyList.json"))
+                        .thenReturn(loadPolicies("createGroupNewPolicy.json"));
+
+        PdpGroups reqgroups = loadPdpGroups("createGroupsVersPrefix.json");
+
+        prov.createOrUpdateGroups(reqgroups);
+
+        Collections.sort(newgrp.getPdpSubgroups().get(0).getPolicies());
+        Collections.sort(dbgroup.getPdpSubgroups().get(0).getPolicies());
+
+        assertEquals(newgrp.toString(), dbgroup.toString());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testAddSubGroup_ValidateVersionPrefixMismatch() throws Exception {
+        PdpGroups groups = loadPdpGroups("createGroups.json");
+        PdpGroup newgrp = groups.getGroups().get(0);
+        PdpGroup dbgroup = new PdpGroup(newgrp);
+        when(dao.getPdpGroups(dbgroup.getName())).thenReturn(Arrays.asList(dbgroup));
+
+        when(dao.getFilteredPolicyList(any())).thenReturn(loadPolicies("daoPolicyList.json"));
+
+
+        PdpGroups reqgroups = loadPdpGroups("createGroupsVersPrefixMismatch.json");
+
+        assertThatThrownBy(() -> prov.createOrUpdateGroups(reqgroups)).isInstanceOf(PfModelException.class)
+                        .hasMessageContaining("different version already deployed");
+
+        assertNoGroupAction();
+    }
+
+    @Test
     public void testUpdateSubGroup_Invalid() throws Exception {
         PdpGroups groups = loadPdpGroups("createGroups.json");
         PdpGroup newgrp = groups.getGroups().get(0);
@@ -507,7 +548,8 @@
         PdpSubGroup subgrp = newgrp.getPdpSubgroups().get(0);
         subgrp.getPolicies().add(new ToscaPolicyIdentifier(POLICY2_NAME, POLICY1_VERSION));
 
-        when(dao.getFilteredPolicyList(any())).thenReturn(loadPolicies("daoPolicyList.json"))
+        when(dao.getFilteredPolicyList(any())).thenReturn(loadPolicies("createGroupNewPolicy.json"))
+                        .thenReturn(loadPolicies("daoPolicyList.json"))
                         .thenReturn(loadPolicies("createGroupNewPolicy.json"));
 
         prov.createOrUpdateGroups(groups);
diff --git a/main/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/TestSessionData.java b/main/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/TestSessionData.java
index 180c032..d7d9b67 100644
--- a/main/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/TestSessionData.java
+++ b/main/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/main/rest/depundep/TestSessionData.java
@@ -189,6 +189,20 @@
     }
 
     @Test
+    public void testIsVersionPrefix() {
+        assertTrue(SessionData.isVersionPrefix("1"));
+        assertTrue(SessionData.isVersionPrefix("12"));
+        assertTrue(SessionData.isVersionPrefix("1.2"));
+        assertTrue(SessionData.isVersionPrefix("1.23"));
+
+        assertFalse(SessionData.isVersionPrefix("1."));
+        assertFalse(SessionData.isVersionPrefix("1.2."));
+        assertFalse(SessionData.isVersionPrefix("1.2.3"));
+        assertFalse(SessionData.isVersionPrefix("1.2.3."));
+        assertFalse(SessionData.isVersionPrefix("1.2.3.4"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
     public void testAddRequests_testGetPdpStateChanges_testGetPdpUpdates() {
         // pre-load with a update and state-change for other PDPs
         PdpUpdate update2 = makeUpdate(PDP2);
diff --git a/main/src/test/resources/simpleDeploy/createGroupsNewSubNotFound.json b/main/src/test/resources/simpleDeploy/createGroupsNewSubNotFound.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f471700
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/src/test/resources/simpleDeploy/createGroupsNewSubNotFound.json
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+{
+    "groups": [
+        {
+            "name": "groupA",
+            "version": "200.2.3",
+            "description": "my description",
+            "pdpGroupState": "ACTIVE",
+            "properties": {
+                "hello": "world"
+            },
+            "pdpSubgroups": [
+                {
+                    "pdpType": "pdpTypeA",
+                    "desiredInstanceCount": 1,
+                    "properties": {
+                        "abc": "def"
+                    },
+                    "supportedPolicyTypes": [
+                        {
+                            "name": "typeA",
+                            "version": "100.2.3"
+                        }
+                    ],
+                    "pdpInstances": [
+                        {
+                            "instanceId": "pdpA"
+                        }
+                    ],
+                    "policies": [
+                        {
+                            "name": "policy-unknown",
+                            "version": "9.9.9"
+                        }
+                    ]
+                },
+                {
+                    "pdpType": "pdpTypeB",
+                    "desiredInstanceCount": 1,
+                    "currentInstanceCount": 22,
+                    "supportedPolicyTypes": [
+                        {
+                            "name": "typeA",
+                            "version": "100.2.3"
+                        }
+                    ],
+                    "pdpInstances": [
+                        {
+                            "instanceId": "pdpB"
+                        }
+                    ],
+                    "policies": []
+                }
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/main/src/test/resources/simpleDeploy/createGroupsVersPrefix.json b/main/src/test/resources/simpleDeploy/createGroupsVersPrefix.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e53d927
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/src/test/resources/simpleDeploy/createGroupsVersPrefix.json
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+{
+    "groups": [
+        {
+            "name": "groupA",
+            "version": "200.2.3",
+            "description": "my description",
+            "pdpGroupState": "ACTIVE",
+            "properties": {
+                "hello": "world"
+            },
+            "pdpSubgroups": [
+                {
+                    "pdpType": "pdpTypeA",
+                    "desiredInstanceCount": 1,
+                    "properties": {
+                        "abc": "def"
+                    },
+                    "supportedPolicyTypes": [
+                        {
+                            "name": "typeA",
+                            "version": "100.2.3"
+                        }
+                    ],
+                    "pdpInstances": [
+                        {
+                            "instanceId": "pdpA"
+                        }
+                    ],
+                    "policies": [
+                        {
+                            "name": "policyA",
+                            "version": "1"
+                        }
+                    ]
+                }
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/main/src/test/resources/simpleDeploy/createGroupsVersPrefixMismatch.json b/main/src/test/resources/simpleDeploy/createGroupsVersPrefixMismatch.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2bf0641
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/src/test/resources/simpleDeploy/createGroupsVersPrefixMismatch.json
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+{
+    "groups": [
+        {
+            "name": "groupA",
+            "version": "200.2.3",
+            "description": "my description",
+            "pdpGroupState": "ACTIVE",
+            "properties": {
+                "hello": "world"
+            },
+            "pdpSubgroups": [
+                {
+                    "pdpType": "pdpTypeA",
+                    "desiredInstanceCount": 1,
+                    "properties": {
+                        "abc": "def"
+                    },
+                    "supportedPolicyTypes": [
+                        {
+                            "name": "typeA",
+                            "version": "100.2.3"
+                        }
+                    ],
+                    "pdpInstances": [
+                        {
+                            "instanceId": "pdpA"
+                        }
+                    ],
+                    "policies": [
+                        {
+                            "name": "policyA",
+                            "version": "9"
+                        }
+                    ]
+                }
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}