diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index c4b4ccae..6079ac6c 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new(:spec) do |t|
   if RUBY_PLATFORM == 'java'
     excludes += ['acceptance/**/*.rb', 'integration/**/*.rb', 'puppet/resource_api/*_context_spec.rb', 'puppet/util/network_device/simple/device_spec.rb']
     t.rspec_opts = '--tag ~agent_test'
+    t.rspec_opts << ' --tag ~j17_exclude' if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION) < Gem::Version.new('2.0.0')
   end
   t.exclude_pattern = "spec/{#{excludes.join ','}}"
 end
diff --git a/lib/puppet/resource_api.rb b/lib/puppet/resource_api.rb
index 0f9ba788..4132cb75 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/resource_api.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/resource_api.rb
@@ -123,6 +123,20 @@ def name
         title
       end
 
+      def self.build_title(type_definition, resource_hash)
+        if type_definition.namevars.size > 1
+          # use a MonkeyHash to allow searching in Puppet's RAL
+          Puppet::ResourceApi::MonkeyHash[type_definition.namevars.map { |attr| [attr, resource_hash[attr]] }]
+        else
+          resource_hash[type_definition.namevars[0]]
+        end
+      end
+
+      def rsapi_title
+        @rsapi_title ||= self.class.build_title(type_definition, self)
+        @rsapi_title
+      end
+
       def to_resource
         to_resource_shim(super)
       end
@@ -251,7 +265,7 @@ def to_resource
           result = if resource_hash.key? :title
                      new(title: resource_hash[:title])
                    else
-                     new(title: resource_hash[type_definition.namevars.first])
+                     new(title: build_title(type_definition, resource_hash))
                    end
           result.cache_current_state(resource_hash)
           result
@@ -260,7 +274,7 @@ def to_resource
 
       define_method(:refresh_current_state) do
         @rsapi_current_state = if type_definition.feature?('simple_get_filter')
-                                 my_provider.get(context, [title]).find { |h| namevar_match?(h) }
+                                 my_provider.get(context, [rsapi_title]).find { |h| namevar_match?(h) }
                                else
                                  my_provider.get(context).find { |h| namevar_match?(h) }
                                end
@@ -269,7 +283,7 @@ def to_resource
           type_definition.check_schema(@rsapi_current_state)
           strict_check(@rsapi_current_state) if type_definition.feature?('canonicalize')
         else
-          @rsapi_current_state = { title: title }
+          @rsapi_current_state = { title: rsapi_title }
           @rsapi_current_state[:ensure] = :absent if type_definition.ensurable?
         end
       end
diff --git a/lib/puppet/resource_api/glue.rb b/lib/puppet/resource_api/glue.rb
index 85628c3e..b0e58c14 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/resource_api/glue.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/resource_api/glue.rb
@@ -46,4 +46,19 @@ def filtered_keys
       values.keys.reject { |k| k == :title || !attr_def[k] || (attr_def[k][:behaviour] == :namevar && @namevars.size == 1) }
     end
   end
+
+  # this hash allows key-value based ordering comparisons between instances of this and instances of this and other classes
+  # this is required for `lib/puppet/indirector/resource/ral.rb`'s `search` method which expects all titles to be comparable
+  class MonkeyHash < Hash
+    def <=>(other)
+      result = self.class.name <=> other.class.name
+      if result.zero?
+        result = keys.sort <=> other.keys.sort
+      end
+      if result.zero?
+        result = keys.sort.map { |k| self[k] } <=> other.keys.sort.map { |k| other[k] }
+      end
+      result
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/acceptance/namevar_spec.rb b/spec/acceptance/namevar_spec.rb
index 2a434548..a162151d 100644
--- a/spec/acceptance/namevar_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/acceptance/namevar_spec.rb
@@ -24,11 +24,12 @@
       expect(stdout_str.strip).to match %r{ensure\s*=> \'present\'}
       expect(status).to eq 0
     end
-    it 'returns the match if title matches a namevar value' do
-      stdout_str, status = Open3.capture2e("puppet resource #{common_args} multiple_namevar php")
-      expect(stdout_str.strip).to match %r{^multiple_namevar \{ \'php\'}
+    it 'returns the match if title matches a title value' do
+      stdout_str, status = Open3.capture2e("puppet resource #{common_args} multiple_namevar php-gem")
+      expect(stdout_str.strip).to match %r{^multiple_namevar \{ \'php-gem\'}
       expect(stdout_str.strip).to match %r{ensure\s*=> \'present\'}
       expect(stdout_str.strip).to match %r{package\s*=> \'php\'}
+      expect(stdout_str.strip).to match %r{manager\s*=> \'gem\'}
       expect(status).to eq 0
     end
     it 'creates a previously absent resource if all namevars are provided' do
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/test_module/lib/puppet/provider/multiple_namevar/multiple_namevar.rb b/spec/fixtures/test_module/lib/puppet/provider/multiple_namevar/multiple_namevar.rb
index 857e73b9..c1eea1c0 100644
--- a/spec/fixtures/test_module/lib/puppet/provider/multiple_namevar/multiple_namevar.rb
+++ b/spec/fixtures/test_module/lib/puppet/provider/multiple_namevar/multiple_namevar.rb
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@
 class Puppet::Provider::MultipleNamevar::MultipleNamevar
   def initialize
     @current_values ||= [
-      { package: 'php', manager: 'yum', ensure: 'present' },
-      { package: 'php', manager: 'gem', ensure: 'present' },
-      { package: 'mysql', manager: 'yum', ensure: 'present' },
-      { package: 'mysql', manager: 'gem', ensure: 'present' },
-      { package: 'foo', manager: 'bar', ensure: 'present' },
-      { package: 'bar', manager: 'foo', ensure: 'present' },
+      { title: 'php-yum', package: 'php', manager: 'yum', ensure: 'present' },
+      { title: 'php-gem', package: 'php', manager: 'gem', ensure: 'present' },
+      { title: 'mysql-yum', package: 'mysql', manager: 'yum', ensure: 'present' },
+      { title: 'mysql-gem', package: 'mysql', manager: 'gem', ensure: 'present' },
+      { title: 'foo-bar', package: 'foo', manager: 'bar', ensure: 'present' },
+      { title: 'bar-foo', package: 'bar', manager: 'foo', ensure: 'present' },
     ]
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/integration/resource_api_spec.rb b/spec/integration/resource_api_spec.rb
index c4ff82ba..2d942189 100644
--- a/spec/integration/resource_api_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/resource_api_spec.rb
@@ -7,12 +7,27 @@
     let(:definition) do
       {
         name: 'integration',
+        title_patterns: [
+          {
+            pattern: %r{^(?<name>.*[^-])-(?<name2>.*)$},
+            desc: 'Where the name and the name2 are provided with a hyphen separator',
+          },
+          {
+            pattern: %r{^(?<name>.*)$},
+            desc: 'Where only the name is provided',
+          },
+        ],
         attributes: {
           name: {
             type: 'String',
             behaviour: :namevar,
             desc: 'the title',
           },
+          name2: {
+            type: 'String',
+            behaviour: :namevar,
+            desc: 'the other title',
+          },
           string: {
             type: 'String',
             desc: 'a string attribute',
@@ -170,7 +185,18 @@
       s = setter
       Class.new do
         def get(_context)
-          []
+          [
+            {
+              name: 'foo',
+              name2: 'bar',
+              title: 'foo-bar',
+            },
+            {
+              name: 'foo2',
+              name2: 'bar2',
+              title: 'foo2-bar2',
+            },
+          ]
         end
 
         attr_reader :last_changes
diff --git a/spec/puppet/resource_api/glue_spec.rb b/spec/puppet/resource_api/glue_spec.rb
index 2a1ee68d..e4f117a3 100644
--- a/spec/puppet/resource_api/glue_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/puppet/resource_api/glue_spec.rb
@@ -57,4 +57,20 @@
       end
     end
   end
+
+  describe Puppet::ResourceApi::MonkeyHash do
+    it { expect(described_class.ancestors).to include Hash }
+
+    describe '#<=>(other)' do
+      subject(:value) { described_class[b: 'b', c: 'c'] }
+
+      it { expect(value <=> 'string').to eq(-1) }
+      # Avoid this test on jruby 1.7, where it is hitting a implementation inconsistency and `'string' <=> value` returns `nil`
+      it('compares to a string', j17_exclude: true) { expect('string' <=> value).to eq 1 }
+      it { expect(value <=> described_class[b: 'b', c: 'c']).to eq 0 }
+      it { expect(value <=> described_class[d: 'd']).to eq(-1) }
+      it { expect(value <=> described_class[a: 'a']).to eq 1 }
+      it { expect(value <=> described_class[b: 'a', c: 'c']).to eq 1 }
+    end
+  end
 end