diff --git a/httpr.go b/httpr.go
index e9b995d..a67e232 100644
--- a/httpr.go
+++ b/httpr.go
@@ -133,13 +133,13 @@ func New() *Router {
 
 func (rr *Router) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	if tree, ok := rr.tree[r.Method]; ok {
-		if r.URL.Path[0] != '/' {
-			panic("first element of path should be a slash (/) symbol")
+		path, err := newPath(r.URL.Path)
+		if err != nil {
+			http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusNotAcceptable)
+			return
 		}
 
-		path, _ := newPath(r.URL.Path)
-
-		if handler, params := tree.get(path, 0); handler != nil {
+		if handler, params := tree.get(path); handler != nil {
 			if params != nil {
 				r = r.WithContext(context.WithValue(r.Context(), ParamsKey, params))
 			}