diff --git a/src/build.ts b/src/build.ts
index 831d0be0e9..aef96b9184 100644
--- a/src/build.ts
+++ b/src/build.ts
@@ -44,9 +44,10 @@ async function writeFilep(outPath: URL, bytes: string | Buffer, encoding: 'utf-8
 
 /** Utility for writing a build result to disk */
 async function writeResult(result: LoadResult, outPath: URL, encoding: null | 'utf-8') {
-  if (result.statusCode !== 200) {
-    error(logging, 'build', result.error || result.statusCode);
-    //return 1;
+  if (result.statusCode === 500 || result.statusCode === 404) {
+    error(logging, 'build', result.error  || result.statusCode);
+  } else if(result.statusCode !== 200) {
+    error(logging, 'build', `Unexpected load result (${result.statusCode}) for ${outPath.pathname}`);
   } else {
     const bytes = result.contents;
     await writeFilep(outPath, bytes, encoding);
diff --git a/src/runtime.ts b/src/runtime.ts
index c12fb3e140..62bbdb09c1 100644
--- a/src/runtime.ts
+++ b/src/runtime.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import type { AstroConfig, RuntimeMode } from './@types/astro';
 import type { LogOptions } from './logger';
 import type { CompileError } from './parser/utils/error.js';
 import { debug, info } from './logger.js';
+import { searchForPage } from './search.js';
 
 import { existsSync } from 'fs';
 import { loadConfiguration, logger as snowpackLogger, startServer as startSnowpackServer } from 'snowpack';
@@ -25,9 +26,10 @@ type LoadResultSuccess = {
   contentType?: string | false;
 };
 type LoadResultNotFound = { statusCode: 404; error: Error };
+type LoadResultRedirect = { statusCode: 301 | 302; location: string; };
 type LoadResultError = { statusCode: 500 } & ({ type: 'parse-error'; error: CompileError } | { type: 'unknown'; error: Error });
 
-export type LoadResult = LoadResultSuccess | LoadResultNotFound | LoadResultError;
+export type LoadResult = LoadResultSuccess | LoadResultNotFound | LoadResultRedirect | LoadResultError;
 
 // Disable snowpack from writing to stdout/err.
 snowpackLogger.level = 'silent';
@@ -38,15 +40,12 @@ async function load(config: RuntimeConfig, rawPathname: string | undefined): Pro
   const { astroRoot } = config.astroConfig;
 
   const fullurl = new URL(rawPathname || '/', 'https://example.org/');
+
   const reqPath = decodeURI(fullurl.pathname);
-  const selectedPage = reqPath.substr(1) || 'index';
   info(logging, 'access', reqPath);
 
-  const selectedPageLoc = new URL(`./pages/${selectedPage}.astro`, astroRoot);
-  const selectedPageMdLoc = new URL(`./pages/${selectedPage}.md`, astroRoot);
-
-  // Non-Astro pages (file resources)
-  if (!existsSync(selectedPageLoc) && !existsSync(selectedPageMdLoc)) {
+  const searchResult = searchForPage(fullurl, astroRoot);
+  if(searchResult.statusCode === 404) {
     try {
       const result = await frontendSnowpack.loadUrl(reqPath);
 
@@ -66,61 +65,52 @@ async function load(config: RuntimeConfig, rawPathname: string | undefined): Pro
     }
   }
 
-  for (const url of [`/_astro/pages/${selectedPage}.astro.js`, `/_astro/pages/${selectedPage}.md.js`]) {
-    try {
-      const mod = await backendSnowpackRuntime.importModule(url);
-      debug(logging, 'resolve', `${reqPath} -> ${url}`);
-      let html = (await mod.exports.__renderPage({
-        request: {
-          host: fullurl.hostname,
-          path: fullurl.pathname,
-          href: fullurl.toString(),
-        },
-        children: [],
-        props: {},
-      })) as string;
+  if(searchResult.statusCode === 301) {
+    return { statusCode: 301, location: searchResult.pathname };
+  }
 
-      // inject styles
-      // TODO: handle this in compiler
-      const styleTags = Array.isArray(mod.css) && mod.css.length ? mod.css.reduce((markup, href) => `${markup}\n<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="${href}" />`, '') : ``;
-      if (html.indexOf('</head>') !== -1) {
-        html = html.replace('</head>', `${styleTags}</head>`);
-      } else {
-        html = styleTags + html;
-      }
+  const snowpackURL = searchResult.location.snowpackURL;
 
-      return {
-        statusCode: 200,
-        contents: html,
-      };
-    } catch (err) {
-      // if this is a 404, try the next URL (will be caught at the end)
-      const notFoundError = err.toString().startsWith('Error: Not Found');
-      if (notFoundError) {
-        continue;
-      }
+  try {
+    const mod = await backendSnowpackRuntime.importModule(snowpackURL);
+    debug(logging, 'resolve', `${reqPath} -> ${snowpackURL}`);
+    let html = (await mod.exports.__renderPage({
+      request: {
+        host: fullurl.hostname,
+        path: fullurl.pathname,
+        href: fullurl.toString(),
+      },
+      children: [],
+      props: {},
+    })) as string;
 
-      if (err.code === 'parse-error') {
-        return {
-          statusCode: 500,
-          type: 'parse-error',
-          error: err,
-        };
-      }
+    // inject styles
+    // TODO: handle this in compiler
+    const styleTags = Array.isArray(mod.css) && mod.css.length ? mod.css.reduce((markup, href) => `${markup}\n<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="${href}" />`, '') : ``;
+    if (html.indexOf('</head>') !== -1) {
+      html = html.replace('</head>', `${styleTags}</head>`);
+    } else {
+      html = styleTags + html;
+    }
+
+    return {
+      statusCode: 200,
+      contents: html,
+    };
+  } catch (err) {
+    if (err.code === 'parse-error') {
       return {
         statusCode: 500,
-        type: 'unknown',
+        type: 'parse-error',
         error: err,
       };
     }
+    return {
+      statusCode: 500,
+      type: 'unknown',
+      error: err,
+    };
   }
-
-  // couldn‘t find match; 404
-  return {
-    statusCode: 404,
-    type: 'unknown',
-    error: new Error(`Could not locate ${selectedPage}`),
-  };
 }
 
 export interface AstroRuntime {
diff --git a/src/search.ts b/src/search.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d9e2fa00ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/search.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+import { existsSync } from 'fs';
+
+interface PageLocation {
+  fileURL: URL;
+  snowpackURL: string;
+}
+
+function findAnyPage(candidates: Array<string>, astroRoot: URL): PageLocation | false {
+  for(let candidate of candidates) {
+    const url = new URL(`./pages/${candidate}`, astroRoot);
+    if(existsSync(url)) {
+      return {
+        fileURL: url,
+        snowpackURL: `/_astro/pages/${candidate}.js`
+      };
+    }
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
+type SearchResult = {
+  statusCode: 200;
+  location: PageLocation;
+  pathname: string;
+} | {
+  statusCode: 301;
+  location: null;
+  pathname: string;
+} | {
+  statusCode: 404;
+};
+
+export function searchForPage(url: URL, astroRoot: URL): SearchResult {
+  const reqPath = decodeURI(url.pathname);
+  const base = reqPath.substr(1);
+
+  // Try to find index.astro/md paths
+  if(reqPath.endsWith('/')) {
+    const candidates = [`${base}index.astro`, `${base}index.md`];
+    const location = findAnyPage(candidates, astroRoot);
+    if(location) {
+      return {
+        statusCode: 200,
+        location,
+        pathname: reqPath
+      };
+    }
+  } else {
+    // Try to find the page by its name.
+    const candidates = [`${base}.astro`, `${base}.md`];
+    let location = findAnyPage(candidates, astroRoot);
+    if(location) {
+      return {
+        statusCode: 200,
+        location,
+        pathname: reqPath
+      };
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Try to find name/index.astro/md
+  const candidates = [`${base}/index.astro`, `${base}/index.md`];
+  const location = findAnyPage(candidates, astroRoot);
+  if(location) {
+    return {
+      statusCode: 301,
+      location: null,
+      pathname: reqPath + '/'
+    };
+  }
+
+  return {
+    statusCode: 404
+  };
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/astro-basic.test.js b/test/astro-basic.test.js
index b06cdfcd01..053bf2fbb0 100644
--- a/test/astro-basic.test.js
+++ b/test/astro-basic.test.js
@@ -1,29 +1,13 @@
 import { suite } from 'uvu';
 import * as assert from 'uvu/assert';
-import { createRuntime } from '../lib/runtime.js';
-import { loadConfig } from '../lib/config.js';
 import { doc } from './test-utils.js';
+import { setup } from './helpers.js';
 
-const Basics = suite('HMX Basics');
+const Basics = suite('Search paths');
 
-let runtime;
+setup(Basics, './fixtures/astro-basic');
 
-Basics.before(async () => {
-  const astroConfig = await loadConfig(new URL('./fixtures/astro-basics', import.meta.url).pathname);
-
-  const logging = {
-    level: 'error',
-    dest: process.stderr,
-  };
-
-  runtime = await createRuntime(astroConfig, { logging });
-});
-
-Basics.after(async () => {
-  (await runtime) && runtime.shutdown();
-});
-
-Basics('Can load page', async () => {
+Basics('Can load page', async ({ runtime }) => {
   const result = await runtime.load('/');
 
   assert.equal(result.statusCode, 200);
@@ -32,4 +16,4 @@ Basics('Can load page', async () => {
   assert.equal($('h1').text(), 'Hello world!');
 });
 
-Basics.run();
+Basics.run();
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/astro-search.test.js b/test/astro-search.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..415bc44324
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/astro-search.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { suite } from 'uvu';
+import * as assert from 'uvu/assert';
+import { setup } from './helpers.js';
+
+const Search = suite('Search paths');
+
+setup(Search, './fixtures/astro-basic');
+
+Search('Finds the root page', async ({ runtime }) => {
+  const result = await runtime.load('/');
+  assert.equal(result.statusCode, 200);
+});
+
+Search('Matches pathname to filename', async ({ runtime }) => {
+  const result = await runtime.load('/news');
+  assert.equal(result.statusCode, 200);
+});
+
+Search('A URL with a trailing slash can match a folder with an index.astro', async ({ runtime }) => {
+  const result = await runtime.load('/nested-astro/');
+  assert.equal(result.statusCode, 200);
+});
+
+Search('A URL with a trailing slash can match a folder with an index.md', async ({ runtime }) => {
+  const result = await runtime.load('/nested-md/');
+  assert.equal(result.statusCode, 200);
+});
+
+Search('A URL without a trailing slash can redirect to a folder with an index.astro', async ({ runtime }) => {
+  const result = await runtime.load('/nested-astro');
+  assert.equal(result.statusCode, 301);
+  assert.equal(result.location, '/nested-astro/');
+});
+
+Search('A URL without a trailing slash can redirect to a folder with an index.md', async ({ runtime }) => {
+  const result = await runtime.load('/nested-md');
+  assert.equal(result.statusCode, 301);
+  assert.equal(result.location, '/nested-md/');
+});
+
+Search.run();
diff --git a/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/layouts/base.astro b/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/layouts/base.astro
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ec996a32f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/layouts/base.astro
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+export let content: any;
+---
+
+<!doctype html>
+<html lang="en">
+<head>
+  <title>{content.title}</title>
+  <meta charset="utf-8">
+</head>
+
+<body>
+  <h1>{content.title}</h1>
+
+  <main><slot></slot></main>
+</body>
+</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/index.astro b/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/index.astro
index e6b8a1235f..5ae5380c52 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/index.astro
+++ b/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/index.astro
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 ---
-  export function setup() {
-    return {props: {}}
-  }
+let title = 'My App'
 ---
 
 <html>
diff --git a/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/nested-astro/index.astro b/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/nested-astro/index.astro
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a28992ee6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/nested-astro/index.astro
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+let title = 'Nested page'
+---
+
+<html>
+  <head>
+    <!-- Head Stuff -->
+  </head>
+  <body>
+    <h1>{title}</h1>
+  </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/nested-md/index.md b/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/nested-md/index.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..23374f9b89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/nested-md/index.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+layout: ../../layouts/base.astro
+title: My Page
+---
+
+Hello world
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/news.astro b/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/news.astro
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..71a00b8a98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/astro-basic/astro/pages/news.astro
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+let title = 'The News'
+---
+
+<html lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>{title}</title>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+    <h1>Hello world!</h1>
+  </body>
+</html>