diff --git a/doc/src/fix_pair.rst b/doc/src/fix_pair.rst
index abb44718cd..44c91f18ee 100644
--- a/doc/src/fix_pair.rst
+++ b/doc/src/fix_pair.rst
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 .. index:: fix pair
 
 fix pair command
-=======================
+================
 
 Syntax
 """"""
@@ -47,7 +47,12 @@ These are example use cases:
 The *N* argument determines how often the fix is invoked.
 
 The *pstyle* argument is the name of the pair style.  It can be a
-sub-style used in a :doc:`pair_style hybrid <pair_hybrid>` command.
+sub-style used in a :doc:`pair_style hybrid <pair_hybrid>` command.  If
+there are multiple sub-styles using the same pair style, then *pstyle*
+should be specified as "style:N", where *N* is the number of the
+instance of the pair style you wish monitor (e.g., the first or second).
+For example, *pstyle* could be specified as "pace/extrapolation" or
+"amoeba" or "eam:1" or "eam:2".
 
 One or more *name/flag* pairs of arguments follow.  Each *name* is a
 per-atom quantity which the pair style must recognize as an extraction
diff --git a/src/fix_pair.cpp b/src/fix_pair.cpp
index bd389f6632..db7b24dfea 100644
--- a/src/fix_pair.cpp
+++ b/src/fix_pair.cpp
@@ -36,11 +36,20 @@ FixPair::FixPair(LAMMPS *lmp, int narg, char **arg) :
   if (nevery < 1) error->all(FLERR,"Illegal fix pair every value: {}", nevery);
 
   pairname = utils::strdup(arg[4]);
-  if(lmp->suffix) {
-      strcat(pairname,"/");
-      strcat(pairname,lmp->suffix);
+  char *cptr;
+  int nsub = 0;
+  if ((cptr = strchr(pairname,':'))) {
+    *cptr = '\0';
+    nsub = utils::inumeric(FLERR,cptr+1,false,lmp);
   }
-  pstyle = force->pair_match(pairname,1,0);
+
+  if (lmp->suffix_enable) {
+    if (lmp->suffix)
+      pstyle = force->pair_match(fmt::format("{}/{}",pairname,lmp->suffix),1,nsub);
+    if ((pstyle == nullptr) && lmp->suffix2)
+      pstyle = force->pair_match(fmt::format("{}/{}",pairname,lmp->suffix2),1,nsub);
+  }
+  if (pstyle == nullptr) pstyle = force->pair_match(pairname,1,nsub);
   if (pstyle == nullptr) error->all(FLERR,"Pair style {} for fix pair not found", pairname);
 
   nfield = (narg-5) / 2;