diff --git a/packages/seacas/scripts/exomerge3.py b/packages/seacas/scripts/exomerge3.py
index 06ec11e687..bb321c6cc0 100644
--- a/packages/seacas/scripts/exomerge3.py
+++ b/packages/seacas/scripts/exomerge3.py
@@ -571,10 +571,10 @@ def __getattr__(self, name):
 
         """
         # for special methods, use default behavior
-        if name[:2] == "__":
+        if name.startswith("__"):
             raise AttributeError
         # get non-special function names
-        names = [x for x in dir(self.__class__) if x[:2] != "__"]
+        names = [x for x in dir(self.__class__) if !x.startswith("__")]
         # if the name appears to be singular, search for the plural version
         if not name.endswith("s"):
             trial = name + "s"