diff --git a/tree.go b/tree.go
index a6ffe062..72ef3dda 100644
--- a/tree.go
+++ b/tree.go
@@ -448,17 +448,11 @@ func (leaf *leafInfo) match(wildcardValues []string, ctx *context.Context) (ok b
 // "/admin/" -> ["admin"]
 // "/admin/users" -> ["admin", "users"]
 func splitPath(key string) []string {
+	key = strings.Trim(key, "/ ")
 	if key == "" {
 		return []string{}
 	}
-	elements := strings.Split(key, "/")
-	if elements[0] == "" {
-		elements = elements[1:]
-	}
-	if elements[len(elements)-1] == "" {
-		elements = elements[:len(elements)-1]
-	}
-	return elements
+	return strings.Split(key, "/")
 }
 
 // "admin" -> false, nil, ""