diff --git a/middleware/proxy/proxy.go b/middleware/proxy/proxy.go
index 551f97a0..b21d38fc 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy/proxy.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy/proxy.go
@@ -34,15 +34,15 @@ type UpstreamHostDownFunc func(*UpstreamHost) bool
 // UpstreamHost represents a single proxy upstream
 type UpstreamHost struct {
 	// The hostname of this upstream host
-	Name         string
-	ReverseProxy *ReverseProxy
-	Conns        int64
-	Fails        int32
-	FailTimeout  time.Duration
-	Unhealthy    bool
-	ExtraHeaders http.Header
-	CheckDown    UpstreamHostDownFunc
-	Without      string
+	Name              string
+	ReverseProxy      *ReverseProxy
+	Conns             int64
+	Fails             int32
+	FailTimeout       time.Duration
+	Unhealthy         bool
+	ExtraHeaders      http.Header
+	CheckDown         UpstreamHostDownFunc
+	WithoutPathPrefix string
 }
 
 // Down checks whether the upstream host is down or not.
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func (p Proxy) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) (int, error) {
 				if baseURL, err := url.Parse(host.Name); err == nil {
 					r.Host = baseURL.Host
 					if proxy == nil {
-						proxy = NewSingleHostReverseProxy(baseURL, host.Without)
+						proxy = NewSingleHostReverseProxy(baseURL, host.WithoutPathPrefix)
 					}
 				} else if proxy == nil {
 					return http.StatusInternalServerError, err
diff --git a/middleware/proxy/proxy_test.go b/middleware/proxy/proxy_test.go
index 409df463..8ca5df1d 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy/proxy_test.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy/proxy_test.go
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func (u *fakeUpstream) Select() *UpstreamHost {
 	uri, _ := url.Parse(u.name)
 	return &UpstreamHost{
 		Name:         u.name,
-		ReverseProxy: NewSingleHostReverseProxy(uri),
+		ReverseProxy: NewSingleHostReverseProxy(uri, ""),
 		ExtraHeaders: proxyHeaders,
 	}
 }
@@ -149,3 +149,9 @@ func (c *fakeConn) SetWriteDeadline(t time.Time) error { return nil }
 func (c *fakeConn) Close() error                       { return nil }
 func (c *fakeConn) Read(b []byte) (int, error)         { return c.readBuf.Read(b) }
 func (c *fakeConn) Write(b []byte) (int, error)        { return c.writeBuf.Write(b) }
+
+func newWithoutPathPrefixTestProxy(backendAddr string) *Proxy {
+	return &Proxy{
+		Upstreams: []Upstream{&fakeUpstreamWithoutPathPrefix{from: "/api/messages", withoutPathPrefix: "/api"}},
+	}
+}
diff --git a/middleware/proxy/reverseproxy.go b/middleware/proxy/reverseproxy.go
index e58638ae..e5652fa9 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy/reverseproxy.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy/reverseproxy.go
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ func NewSingleHostReverseProxy(target *url.URL, without string) *ReverseProxy {
 			req.URL.RawQuery = targetQuery + "&" + req.URL.RawQuery
 		}
 		if without != "" {
-			req.URL.Path = strings.Replace(req.URL.Path, without, "", 1)
+			req.URL.Path = strings.TrimPrefix(req.URL.Path, without)
 		}
 	}
 	return &ReverseProxy{Director: director}
diff --git a/middleware/proxy/upstream.go b/middleware/proxy/upstream.go
index 9e43c7f0..cca5c772 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy/upstream.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy/upstream.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ type staticUpstream struct {
 		Path     string
 		Interval time.Duration
 	}
-	Without string
+	WithoutPathPrefix string
 }
 
 // NewStaticUpstreams parses the configuration input and sets up
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ func NewStaticUpstreams(c parse.Dispenser) ([]Upstream, error) {
 				if !c.NextArg() {
 					return upstreams, c.ArgErr()
 				}
-				upstream.Without = c.Val()
+				upstream.WithoutPathPrefix = c.Val()
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -136,10 +136,10 @@ func NewStaticUpstreams(c parse.Dispenser) ([]Upstream, error) {
 						return false
 					}
 				}(upstream),
-				Without: upstream.Without,
+				WithoutPathPrefix: upstream.WithoutPathPrefix,
 			}
 			if baseURL, err := url.Parse(uh.Name); err == nil {
-				uh.ReverseProxy = NewSingleHostReverseProxy(baseURL, uh.Without)
+				uh.ReverseProxy = NewSingleHostReverseProxy(baseURL, uh.WithoutPathPrefix)
 			} else {
 				return upstreams, err
 			}