diff --git a/awx/main/management/commands/inventory_import.py b/awx/main/management/commands/inventory_import.py
index e1a769fdca..1be432eb11 100644
--- a/awx/main/management/commands/inventory_import.py
+++ b/awx/main/management/commands/inventory_import.py
@@ -134,6 +134,9 @@ class MemHost(object):
 class BaseLoader(object):
 
     def get_host(self, name):
+        if ":" in name:
+            tokens = name.split(":")
+            name = tokens[0]
         global host_names
         host = None
         if not name in host_names: