diff --git a/src/library.cpp b/src/library.cpp
index a950d31e4e..2129ebeff8 100644
--- a/src/library.cpp
+++ b/src/library.cpp
@@ -3914,40 +3914,43 @@ int lammps_create_atoms(void *handle, int n, tagint *id, int *type,
 // Library functions for accessing neighbor lists
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-/** Find neighbor list index of pair style neighbor list
+/** Find index of a neighbor list requested by a pair style
  *
- * Try finding pair instance that matches style. If exact is set, the pair must
- * match style exactly. If exact is 0, style must only be contained. If pair is
- * of style pair/hybrid, style is instead matched the nsub-th hybrid sub-style.
+ * This function determines which of the available neighbor lists for
+ * pair styles matches the given conditions.  It first matches the style
+ * name. If exact is 1 the name must match exactly, if exact is 0, a
+ * regular expression or substring match is done.  If the pair style is
+ * hybrid or hybrid/overlay the style is matched against the sub styles
+ * instead.
+ * If a the same pair style is used multiple times as a sub-style, the
+ * nsub argument must be > 0 and represents the nth instance of the sub-style
+ * (same as for the pair_coeff command, for example).  In that case
+ * nsub=0 will not produce a match and this function will return -1.
  *
- * Once the pair instance has been identified, multiple neighbor list requests
- * may be found. Every neighbor list is uniquely identified by its request
- * index. Thus, providing this request index ensures that the correct neighbor
- * list index is returned.
+ * The final condition to be checked is the request ID (reqid).  This
+ * will normally be 0, but some pair styles request multiple neighbor
+ * lists and set the request ID to a value > 0.
  *
  * \param  handle   pointer to a previously created LAMMPS instance cast to ``void *``.
  * \param  style    String used to search for pair style instance
  * \param  exact    Flag to control whether style should match exactly or only
- *                  must be contained in pair style name
- * \param  nsub     match nsub-th hybrid sub-style
- * \param  request  request index that specifies which neighbor list should be
- *                  returned, in case there are multiple neighbor lists requests
- *                  for the found pair style
+ *                  a regular expression / substring match is applied.
+ * \param  nsub     match nsub-th hybrid sub-style instance of the same style
+ * \param  reqid    request id to identify neighbor list in case there are
+ *                  multiple requests from the same pair style instance
  * \return          return neighbor list index if found, otherwise -1 */
 
-int lammps_find_pair_neighlist(void* handle, char * style, int exact, int nsub, int request) {
-  LAMMPS *  lmp = (LAMMPS *) handle;
-  Pair* pair = lmp->force->pair_match(style, exact, nsub);
+int lammps_find_pair_neighlist(void *handle, char *style, int exact, int nsub, int reqid) {
+  LAMMPS *lmp = (LAMMPS *) handle;
+  Pair *pair = lmp->force->pair_match(style, exact, nsub);
 
   if (pair != nullptr) {
     // find neigh list
     for (int i = 0; i < lmp->neighbor->nlist; i++) {
-      NeighList * list = lmp->neighbor->lists[i];
-      if (list->requestor_type != NeighList::PAIR || pair != list->requestor) continue;
-
-      if (list->index == request) {
-          return i;
-      }
+      NeighList *list = lmp->neighbor->lists[i];
+      if ( (list->requestor_type == NeighList::PAIR)
+           && (pair == list->requestor)
+           && (list->id == reqid) ) return i;
     }
   }
   return -1;
@@ -3955,74 +3958,60 @@ int lammps_find_pair_neighlist(void* handle, char * style, int exact, int nsub,
 
 /* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-/** Find neighbor list index of fix neighbor list
+/** Find index of a neighbor list requested by a fix
+ *
+ * The neighbor list request from a fix is identified by the fix ID and
+ * the request ID.  The request ID is typically 0, but will be > 0 in
+ * case a fix has multiple neighbor list requests.
  *
  * \param handle   pointer to a previously created LAMMPS instance cast to ``void *``.
  * \param id       Identifier of fix instance
- * \param request  request index that specifies which request should be returned,
- *                 in case there are multiple neighbor lists for this fix
+ * \param reqid    request id to identify neighbor list in case there are
+ *                 multiple requests from the same fix
  * \return         return neighbor list index if found, otherwise -1  */
 
-int lammps_find_fix_neighlist(void* handle, char *id, int request) {
-  LAMMPS *  lmp = (LAMMPS *) handle;
-  Fix* fix = nullptr;
-  const int nfix = lmp->modify->nfix;
+int lammps_find_fix_neighlist(void *handle, char *id, int reqid) {
+  LAMMPS *lmp = (LAMMPS *) handle;
+  const int ifix = lmp->modify->find_fix(id);
+  if (ifix < 0) return -1;
 
-  // find fix with name
-  for (int ifix = 0; ifix < nfix; ifix++) {
-    if (strcmp(lmp->modify->fix[ifix]->id, id) == 0) {
-        fix = lmp->modify->fix[ifix];
-        break;
-    }
-  }
-
-  if (fix != nullptr) {
-    // find neigh list
-    for (int i = 0; i < lmp->neighbor->nlist; i++) {
-      NeighList * list = lmp->neighbor->lists[i];
-      if (list->requestor_type != NeighList::FIX || fix != list->requestor) continue;
-
-      if (list->index == request) {
-          return i;
-      }
-    }
+  Fix *fix = lmp->modify->fix[ifix];
+  // find neigh list
+  for (int i = 0; i < lmp->neighbor->nlist; i++) {
+    NeighList *list = lmp->neighbor->lists[i];
+    if ( (list->requestor_type == NeighList::FIX)
+         && (fix == list->requestor)
+         && (list->id == reqid) ) return i;
   }
   return -1;
 }
 
 /* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-/** Find neighbor list index of compute neighbor list
+/** Find index of a neighbor list requested by a compute
+ *
+ * The neighbor list request from a compute is identified by the compute
+ * ID and the request ID.  The request ID is typically 0, but will be
+ * > 0 in case a compute has multiple neighbor list requests.
  *
  * \param handle   pointer to a previously created LAMMPS instance cast to ``void *``.
- * \param id       Identifier of fix instance
- * \param request  request index that specifies which request should be returned,
- *                 in case there are multiple neighbor lists for this fix
+ * \param id       Identifier of compute instance
+ * \param reqid    request id to identify neighbor list in case there are
+ *                 multiple requests from the same compute
  * \return         return neighbor list index if found, otherwise -1 */
 
-int lammps_find_compute_neighlist(void* handle, char *id, int request) {
-  LAMMPS *  lmp = (LAMMPS *) handle;
-  Compute* compute = nullptr;
-  const int ncompute = lmp->modify->ncompute;
+int lammps_find_compute_neighlist(void* handle, char *id, int reqid) {
+  LAMMPS *lmp = (LAMMPS *) handle;
+  const int icompute = lmp->modify->find_compute(id);
+  if (icompute < 0) return -1;
 
-  // find compute with name
-  for (int icompute = 0; icompute < ncompute; icompute++) {
-    if (strcmp(lmp->modify->compute[icompute]->id, id) == 0) {
-        compute = lmp->modify->compute[icompute];
-        break;
-    }
-  }
-
-  if (compute != nullptr) {
-    // find neigh list
-    for (int i = 0; i < lmp->neighbor->nlist; i++) {
-      NeighList * list = lmp->neighbor->lists[i];
-      if (list->requestor_type != NeighList::COMPUTE || compute != list->requestor) continue;
-
-      if (list->index == request) {
-          return i;
-      }
-    }
+  Compute *compute = lmp->modify->compute[icompute];
+  // find neigh list
+  for (int i = 0; i < lmp->neighbor->nlist; i++) {
+    NeighList * list = lmp->neighbor->lists[i];
+    if ( (list->requestor_type == NeighList::COMPUTE)
+         && (compute == list->requestor)
+         && (list->id == reqid) ) return i;
   }
   return -1;
 }