diff --git a/src/rollup/plugins/handlers.ts b/src/rollup/plugins/handlers.ts
index 0a679e43ec..833fb8f61b 100644
--- a/src/rollup/plugins/handlers.ts
+++ b/src/rollup/plugins/handlers.ts
@@ -48,10 +48,9 @@ ${imports.map(handler => `import ${getImportId(handler)} from '${handler}';`).jo
 ${lazyImports.map(handler => `const ${getImportId(handler)} = () => import('${handler}');`).join('\n')}
 
 export const handlers = [
-${handlers.map(h => `  { route: '${h.route || ''}', handler: ${getImportId(h.handler)}, lazy: ${h.lazy || true}, method: ${JSON.stringify(h.method)} }`).join(',\n')}
+${handlers.map(h => `  { route: '${h.route || ''}', handler: ${getImportId(h.handler)}, lazy: ${h.lazy || true}, middleware: ${!!h.middleware}, method: ${JSON.stringify(h.method)} }`).join(',\n')}
 ];
   `.trim()
-        // console.log(code)
       return code
     }
   }, nitro.vfs)
diff --git a/src/runtime/app.ts b/src/runtime/app.ts
index 8b5ae57d0e..de1c5fceb3 100644
--- a/src/runtime/app.ts
+++ b/src/runtime/app.ts
@@ -45,8 +45,9 @@ function createNitroApp (): NitroApp {
       })
     }
 
-    if (h.route === '') {
-      h3App.use(config.app.baseURL, handler)
+    if (h.middleware || !h.route) {
+      const middlewareBase = (config.app.baseURL + (h.route || '/')).replace(/\/+/g, '/')
+      h3App.use(middlewareBase, handler)
     } else {
       router.use(h.route, handler, h.method)
     }
diff --git a/src/runtime/virtual/server-handlers.d.ts b/src/runtime/virtual/server-handlers.d.ts
index 00f95097aa..b50ff51234 100644
--- a/src/runtime/virtual/server-handlers.d.ts
+++ b/src/runtime/virtual/server-handlers.d.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import type { CompatibilityEventHandler, RouterMethod } from 'h3'
 interface HandlerDefinition {
   route: string
   lazy?: boolean
+  middleware?: boolean
   handler: CompatibilityEventHandler | (() => Promise<CompatibilityEventHandler>)
   method?: RouterMethod
 }
diff --git a/src/scan.ts b/src/scan.ts
index 715bb96be8..94d6b3bc86 100644
--- a/src/scan.ts
+++ b/src/scan.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export async function scanHandlers (nitro: Nitro) {
 
 export function scanMiddleware (nitro: Nitro) {
   return scanServerDir(nitro, 'middleware', file => ({
-    route: '',
+    middleware: true,
     handler: file.fullPath
   }))
 }
diff --git a/src/types/handler.ts b/src/types/handler.ts
index da1a9d9bb1..4fdf52f2f3 100644
--- a/src/types/handler.ts
+++ b/src/types/handler.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ export interface NitroEventHandler {
    */
   route?: string
 
+  /**
+   * Specifies this is a middleware handler.
+   * Middleware are called on every route and should normally return nothing to pass to the next handlers
+   */
+  middleware?: boolean
+
   /**
    * Use lazy loading to import handler
    */