diff --git a/HISTORY.rst b/HISTORY.rst
index 2849ba51..9281407b 100644
--- a/HISTORY.rst
+++ b/HISTORY.rst
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ Bug fixes
 * Fixed a bug in ``xs.search_data_catalogs`` when searching for fixed fields and specific experiments/members. (:pull:`251`).
 * Fixed a bug in the documentation build configuration that prevented stable/latest and tagged documentation builds from resolving on ReadTheDocs. (:pull:`256`).
 * Fixed ``get_warming_level`` to avoid incomplete matches. (:pull:`269`).
+* `search_data_catalogs` now eliminates anything that matches any entry in `exclusions`. (:issue:`275`, :pull:`280`).
 
 Internal changes
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
diff --git a/tests/test_extract.py b/tests/test_extract.py
index cd36f34a..940bf3a9 100644
--- a/tests/test_extract.py
+++ b/tests/test_extract.py
@@ -28,9 +28,11 @@ def test_basic(self, variables_and_freqs, other_arg):
             other_search_criteria={"experiment": ["ssp585"]}
             if other_arg == "other"
             else None,
-            exclusions={"member": "r2.*"} if other_arg == "exclusion" else None,
+            exclusions={"member": "r2.*", "domain": ["gr2"]}
+            if other_arg == "exclusion"
+            else None,
         )
-        assert len(out) == 13 if other_arg is None else 2 if other_arg == "other" else 6
+        assert len(out) == 13 if other_arg is None else 2 if other_arg == "other" else 4
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         "periods, coverage_kwargs",
diff --git a/xscen/extract.py b/xscen/extract.py
index 8edea223..96a9f6df 100644
--- a/xscen/extract.py
+++ b/xscen/extract.py
@@ -616,7 +616,7 @@ def search_data_catalogs(
         You can also pass 'require_all_on: list(columns_name)' in order to only return results that correspond to all other criteria across the listed columns.
         More details available at https://intake-esm.readthedocs.io/en/stable/how-to/enforce-search-query-criteria-via-require-all-on.html .
     exclusions : dict, optional
-        Same as other_search_criteria, but for eliminating results.
+        Same as other_search_criteria, but for eliminating results. Any result that matches any of the exclusions will be removed.
     match_hist_and_fut: bool, optional
         If True, historical and future simulations will be combined into the same line, and search results lacking one of them will be rejected.
     periods : list
@@ -712,11 +712,14 @@ def search_data_catalogs(
 
     # Cut entries that do not match search criteria
     if exclusions:
-        ex = catalog.search(**exclusions)
-        catalog.esmcat._df = pd.concat([catalog.df, ex.df]).drop_duplicates(keep=False)
-        logger.info(
-            f"Removing {len(ex.df)} assets based on exclusion dict : {exclusions}."
-        )
+        for k in exclusions.keys():
+            ex = catalog.search(**{k: exclusions[k]})
+            catalog.esmcat._df = pd.concat([catalog.df, ex.df]).drop_duplicates(
+                keep=False
+            )
+            logger.info(
+                f"Removing {len(ex.df)} assets based on exclusion dict '{k}': {exclusions[k]}."
+            )
     full_catalog = deepcopy(catalog)  # Used for searching for fixed fields
     if other_search_criteria:
         catalog = catalog.search(**other_search_criteria)