diff --git a/vertx-web/src/main/java/io/vertx/ext/web/impl/RouteState.java b/vertx-web/src/main/java/io/vertx/ext/web/impl/RouteState.java
index d3371742a0..b2d5ca2509 100644
--- a/vertx-web/src/main/java/io/vertx/ext/web/impl/RouteState.java
+++ b/vertx-web/src/main/java/io/vertx/ext/web/impl/RouteState.java
@@ -1312,16 +1312,15 @@ private static boolean pathMatchesExact(String base, String other, boolean signi
       if (other.charAt(len -1) == '/') {
         // final slash is not significant, ignore it
         len--;
+        if (base.length() != len) {
+          return false;
+        }
+        // content must match
+        return other.regionMatches(0, base, 0, len);
       }
     }
-
-    // lengths are not the same (fail)
-    if (base.length() != len) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     // content must match
-    return other.regionMatches(0, base, 0, len);
+    return other.equals(base);
   }
 
   private void addPathParam(RoutingContext context, String name, String value) {