diff --git a/src/core/qgscoordinatereferencesystem.cpp b/src/core/qgscoordinatereferencesystem.cpp
index acb18535405..b7de2c7781e 100644
--- a/src/core/qgscoordinatereferencesystem.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgscoordinatereferencesystem.cpp
@@ -848,6 +848,7 @@ bool QgsCoordinateReferenceSystem::createFromProj4( const QString &proj4String )
         {
           // prefer EPSG codes for compatibility with earlier qgis conversions
           QgsProjUtils::proj_pj_unique_ptr candidateCrs( proj_list_get( QgsProjContext::get(), crsList, i ) );
+          candidateCrs = QgsProjUtils::crsToSingleCrs( candidateCrs.get() );
           const QString authName( proj_get_id_auth_name( candidateCrs.get(), 0 ) );
           if ( confidence[i] > bestConfidence || authName == QLatin1String( "EPSG" ) )
           {
diff --git a/tests/src/core/testqgscoordinatereferencesystem.cpp b/tests/src/core/testqgscoordinatereferencesystem.cpp
index de309d40a01..f0f1a95c2d3 100644
--- a/tests/src/core/testqgscoordinatereferencesystem.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/core/testqgscoordinatereferencesystem.cpp
@@ -523,6 +523,10 @@ void TestQgsCoordinateReferenceSystem::fromProj4()
   QCOMPARE( myCrs.srsid(), GEOCRS_ID );
   myCrs = QgsCoordinateReferenceSystem::fromProj4( QString() );
   QVERIFY( !myCrs.isValid() );
+
+
+  myCrs = QgsCoordinateReferenceSystem::fromProj4( "+proj=utm +zone=36 +south +a=6378249.145 +b=6356514.966398753 +towgs84=-143,-90,-294,0,0,0,0 +units=m +no_defs" );
+  QCOMPARE( myCrs.authid(), QStringLiteral( "EPSG:20936" ) );
 }
 
 void TestQgsCoordinateReferenceSystem::proj4Cache()