diff --git a/debug_toolbar/middleware.py b/debug_toolbar/middleware.py
index 69100b20d..e1cf32d23 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/middleware.py
+++ b/debug_toolbar/middleware.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def __init__(self, get_response):
     def __call__(self, request):
         # Decide whether the toolbar is active for this request.
         show_toolbar = get_show_toolbar()
-        if not show_toolbar(request) or request.path.startswith("/__debug__/"):
+        if not show_toolbar(request) or DebugToolbar.is_toolbar_request(request):
             return self.get_response(request)
 
         toolbar = DebugToolbar(request, self.get_response)
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/toolbar.py b/debug_toolbar/toolbar.py
index 9638ba1f8..fd82d62e2 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/toolbar.py
+++ b/debug_toolbar/toolbar.py
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.template import TemplateSyntaxError
 from django.template.loader import render_to_string
-from django.urls import path
+from django.urls import path, resolve
+from django.urls.exceptions import Resolver404
 from django.utils.module_loading import import_string
 
 from debug_toolbar import settings as dt_settings
@@ -133,6 +134,19 @@ def get_urls(cls):
             cls._urlpatterns = urlpatterns
         return cls._urlpatterns
 
+    @classmethod
+    def is_toolbar_request(cls, request):
+        """
+        Determine if the request is for a DebugToolbar view.
+        """
+        # The primary caller of this function is in the middleware which may
+        # not have resolver_match set.
+        try:
+            resolver_match = request.resolver_match or resolve(request.path)
+        except Resolver404:
+            return False
+        return resolver_match.namespaces and resolver_match.namespaces[-1] == app_name
+
 
 app_name = "djdt"
 urlpatterns = DebugToolbar.get_urls()
diff --git a/docs/changes.rst b/docs/changes.rst
index 6207b6797..bef5d1964 100644
--- a/docs/changes.rst
+++ b/docs/changes.rst
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ Next version
 * Added ``PRETTIFY_SQL`` configuration option to support controlling
   SQL token grouping. By default it's set to True. When set to False,
   a performance improvement can be seen by the SQL panel.
-
+* Fixed issue with toolbar expecting URL paths to start with `/__debug__/`
+  while the documentation indicates it's not required.
 
 3.2 (2020-12-03)
 ----------------
diff --git a/tests/test_integration.py b/tests/test_integration.py
index 8c28f6c6e..59ea1c25f 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration.py
@@ -101,6 +101,25 @@ def test_cache_page(self):
         self.client.get("/cached_view/")
         self.assertEqual(len(self.toolbar.get_panel_by_id("CachePanel").calls), 5)
 
+    def test_is_toolbar_request(self):
+        self.request.path = "/__debug__/render_panel/"
+        self.assertTrue(self.toolbar.is_toolbar_request(self.request))
+
+        self.request.path = "/invalid/__debug__/render_panel/"
+        self.assertFalse(self.toolbar.is_toolbar_request(self.request))
+
+        self.request.path = "/render_panel/"
+        self.assertFalse(self.toolbar.is_toolbar_request(self.request))
+
+    @override_settings(ROOT_URLCONF="tests.urls_invalid")
+    def test_is_toolbar_request_without_djdt_urls(self):
+        """Test cases when the toolbar urls aren't configured."""
+        self.request.path = "/__debug__/render_panel/"
+        self.assertFalse(self.toolbar.is_toolbar_request(self.request))
+
+        self.request.path = "/render_panel/"
+        self.assertFalse(self.toolbar.is_toolbar_request(self.request))
+
 
 @override_settings(DEBUG=True)
 class DebugToolbarIntegrationTestCase(IntegrationTestCase):
diff --git a/tests/urls_invalid.py b/tests/urls_invalid.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ccadb6735
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/urls_invalid.py
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+"""Invalid urls.py file for testing"""
+urlpatterns = []