diff --git a/web/mux.go b/web/mux.go
index 0004bae..3908de5 100644
--- a/web/mux.go
+++ b/web/mux.go
@@ -28,27 +28,11 @@ A middleware (the untyped parameter in Use() and Insert()) must be one of the
 following types:
 	- func(http.Handler) http.Handler
 	- func(c *web.C, http.Handler) http.Handler
+
 All of the route-adding functions on Mux take two untyped parameters: pattern
-and handler. Pattern must be one of the following types:
-	- string. It will be interpreted as a Sinatra-like pattern. In
-	  particular, the following syntax is recognized:
-		- a path segment starting with with a colon will match any
-		  string placed at that position. e.g., "/:name" will match
-		  "/carl", binding "name" to "carl".
-		- a pattern ending with "/*" will match any route with that
-		  prefix. For instance, the pattern "/u/:name/*" will match
-		  "/u/carl/" and "/u/carl/projects/123", but not "/u/carl"
-		  (because there is no trailing slash). In addition to any names
-		  bound in the pattern, the special name "*" is bound to the
-		  unmatched tail of the match, but including the leading "/". So
-		  for the two matching examples above, "*" would be bound to "/"
-		  and "/projects/123" respectively.
-	- regexp.Regexp. The library assumes that it is a Perl-style regexp that
-	  is anchored on the left (i.e., the beginning of the string). If your
-	  regexp is not anchored on the left, a hopefully-identical
-	  left-anchored regexp will be created and used instead.
-	- web.Pattern
-Handler must be one of the following types:
+and handler. Pattern will be passed to ParsePattern, which takes a web.Pattern,
+a string, or a regular expression (more information can be found in the
+ParsePattern documentation). Handler must be one of the following types:
 	- http.Handler
 	- web.Handler
 	- func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
diff --git a/web/pattern.go b/web/pattern.go
index 0d27c51..99ca59e 100644
--- a/web/pattern.go
+++ b/web/pattern.go
@@ -31,8 +31,39 @@ type Pattern interface {
 	Run(r *http.Request, c *C)
 }
 
-func parsePattern(p interface{}) Pattern {
-	switch v := p.(type) {
+/*
+ParsePattern is used internally by Goji to parse route patterns. It is exposed
+publicly to make it easier to write thin wrappers around the built-in Pattern
+implementations.
+
+Although its parameter has type interface{}, ParsePattern only accepts arguments
+of three types:
+	- web.Pattern, which is passed through
+	- string, which is interpreted as a Sinatra-like URL pattern. In
+	  particular, the following syntax is recognized:
+		- a path segment starting with with a colon will match any
+		  string placed at that position. e.g., "/:name" will match
+		  "/carl", binding "name" to "carl".
+		- a pattern ending with "/*" will match any route with that
+		  prefix. For instance, the pattern "/u/:name/*" will match
+		  "/u/carl/" and "/u/carl/projects/123", but not "/u/carl"
+		  (because there is no trailing slash). In addition to any names
+		  bound in the pattern, the special key "*" is bound to the
+		  unmatched tail of the match, but including the leading "/". So
+		  for the two matching examples above, "*" would be bound to "/"
+		  and "/projects/123" respectively.
+	- regexp.Regexp, which is assumed to be a Perl-style regular expression
+	  that is anchored on the left (i.e., the beginning of the string). If
+	  your regular expression is not anchored on the left, a
+	  hopefully-identical left-anchored regular expression will be created
+	  and used instead.
+
+ParsePattern fatally exits (using log.Fatalf) if it is passed a value of an
+unexpected type. It is the caller's responsibility to ensure that ParsePattern
+is called in a type-safe manner.
+*/
+func ParsePattern(raw interface{}) Pattern {
+	switch v := raw.(type) {
 	case Pattern:
 		return v
 	case *regexp.Regexp:
@@ -40,8 +71,8 @@ func parsePattern(p interface{}) Pattern {
 	case string:
 		return parseStringPattern(v)
 	default:
-		log.Fatalf("Unknown pattern type %v. Expected a web.Pattern, "+
-			"regexp.Regexp, or a string.", p)
+		log.Fatalf("Unknown pattern type %T. Expected a web.Pattern, "+
+			"regexp.Regexp, or a string.", v)
 	}
 	panic("log.Fatalf does not return")
 }
diff --git a/web/router.go b/web/router.go
index d4b88d5..277f524 100644
--- a/web/router.go
+++ b/web/router.go
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ func (rt *router) route(c *C, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 }
 
 func (rt *router) handleUntyped(p interface{}, m method, h interface{}) {
-	rt.handle(parsePattern(p), m, parseHandler(h))
+	rt.handle(ParsePattern(p), m, parseHandler(h))
 }
 
 func (rt *router) handle(p Pattern, m method, h Handler) {