diff --git a/packages/hooks/src/base.ts b/packages/hooks/src/base.ts
index 09d2881..57cd3c2 100644
--- a/packages/hooks/src/base.ts
+++ b/packages/hooks/src/base.ts
@@ -3,20 +3,38 @@ import { Middleware } from './compose';
 export const HOOKS: string = Symbol('@feathersjs/hooks') as any;
 export const CONTEXT: string = Symbol('@feathersjs/hooks/context') as any;
 
+function walkOriginal (fn: any, method: any, res: any[] = []): any {
+  return typeof fn.original === 'function'
+      ? walkOriginal(fn.original, method, [...res, ...method(fn)])
+      : [...res, ...method(fn)];
+}
+
+export function getMiddleware<T> (target: any): Array<Middleware<T>> {
+  return (target && target[HOOKS]) || [];
+}
+
+export type MiddlewareSetter = (currentMiddleware: Middleware[]) => Middleware[];
+
 /**
  * @param target The target object or function
- * @param middleware
+ * @param middleware or function
  */
-export function registerMiddleware<T> (target: T, middleware: Middleware[]) {
-  const current: Middleware[] = (target as any)[HOOKS] || [];
-
-  (target as any)[HOOKS] = current.concat(middleware);
+export function setMiddleware<T> (target: T, middleware: Middleware[] | MiddlewareSetter) {
+  (target as any)[HOOKS] = typeof middleware === 'function' ? middleware(getMiddleware(target)) : middleware;
 
   return target;
 }
 
-export function getMiddleware<T> (target: any): Array<Middleware<T>> {
-  return (target && target[HOOKS]) || [];
+/**
+ * @param target The target object
+ * @param middleware or a function that takes current middleware as first argument
+ */
+export function registerMiddleware<T> (target: T, middleware: Middleware[]) {
+  return setMiddleware(target, (current: Middleware[]) => current.concat(middleware));
+}
+
+export function getContextUpdater<T> (target: any): Array<ContextUpdater<T>> {
+  return (target && target[CONTEXT]) || [];
 }
 
 /**
@@ -24,17 +42,13 @@ export function getMiddleware<T> (target: any): Array<Middleware<T>> {
  * @param updaters
  */
 export function registerContextUpdater<T> (target: T, updaters: ContextUpdater[]) {
-  const current: ContextUpdater[] = (target as any)[CONTEXT] || [];
+  const current = getContextUpdater(target);
 
   (target as any)[CONTEXT] = current.concat(updaters);
 
   return target;
 }
 
-export function getContextUpdater<T> (target: any): Array<ContextUpdater<T>> {
-  return (target && target[CONTEXT]) || [];
-}
-
 /**
  * The base hook context.
  */
diff --git a/packages/hooks/test/function.test.ts b/packages/hooks/test/function.test.ts
index 7996c42..2e50c64 100644
--- a/packages/hooks/test/function.test.ts
+++ b/packages/hooks/test/function.test.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import { strict as assert } from 'assert';
 import {
   hooks, HookContext, functionHooks,
-  NextFunction, getMiddleware, registerMiddleware,
-  withParams, withProps
+  NextFunction, getMiddleware, setMiddleware, registerMiddleware,
+  withParams, withProps, Middleware
 } from '../src/';
 
 describe('functionHooks', () => {
@@ -26,6 +26,24 @@ describe('functionHooks', () => {
     assert.deepEqual(getMiddleware(fn), []);
   });
 
+  it('can manually set an array of middleware', () => {
+    const fn = hooks(hello, []) as any;
+    const mw = [(_ctx: any, next: any) => next()];
+
+    setMiddleware(fn, mw);
+
+    assert.deepEqual(getMiddleware(fn), mw);
+  });
+
+  it('can manually set middleware with a function', () => {
+    const noop = (_ctx: any, next: any) => next();
+    const fn = hooks(hello, [noop]) as any;
+
+    setMiddleware(fn, (current: Middleware[]) => [...current, noop]);
+
+    assert.deepEqual(getMiddleware(fn), [noop, noop]);
+  });
+
   it('can override arguments, has context', async () => {
     const addYou = async (ctx: HookContext, next: NextFunction) => {
       assert.ok(ctx instanceof HookContext);