diff --git a/src/plugins/topology/tree/topology_tree.c b/src/plugins/topology/tree/topology_tree.c
index 73b7f5a1bf2f50d0f72d6c8ec433d48ee7bf1274..78f7508acfecb31fb9ad2685c93c0963c3af72e3 100644
--- a/src/plugins/topology/tree/topology_tree.c
+++ b/src/plugins/topology/tree/topology_tree.c
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ static void _validate_switches(void)
 		if (ptr->nodes) {
 			switch_ptr->level = 0;	/* leaf switch */
 			switch_ptr->nodes = xstrdup(ptr->nodes);
-			if (node_name2bitmap(ptr->nodes, false, 
+			if (node_name2bitmap(ptr->nodes, true, 
 					     &switch_ptr->node_bitmap)) {
 				fatal("Invalid node name (%s) in switch "
 				      "config (%s)",