diff --git a/cros_workon b/cros_workon
index f12bc7a9e4..61b1e47420 100755
--- a/cros_workon
+++ b/cros_workon
@@ -103,6 +103,11 @@ canonicalize_name () {
   local pkgfile
   local pkgname
 
+  if grep -qx "=$1-9999" "${WORKON_FILE}" ; then
+    echo $1
+    return 0
+  fi
+
   if ! pkgfile=$(ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~${BOARD_KEYWORD}" ${EQUERYCMD} which $1); then
     warn "error looking up package $1" 1>&2
     return 1