diff --git a/lib/zero/router.rb b/lib/zero/router.rb
index 482f25a..7f16933 100644
--- a/lib/zero/router.rb
+++ b/lib/zero/router.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ module Zero
     # match for variables in routes
     VARIABLE_MATCH = %r{:(\w+)[^/]?}
     # the replacement string to make it an regex
-    VARIABLE_REGEX = '(?<\1>[\w]+?)'
+    VARIABLE_REGEX = '(?<\1>[\w-]+?)'
     # regex part of the beginning of the line
     REGEX_BEGINNING = '\A'
     # regex part of the end of the line
diff --git a/spec/unit/zero/router/call_spec.rb b/spec/unit/zero/router/call_spec.rb
index 923b747..835d51d 100644
--- a/spec/unit/zero/router/call_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/zero/router/call_spec.rb
@@ -103,4 +103,17 @@ describe Zero::Router, '#call' do
 
     it_behaves_like "a sample app"
   end
+
+  context 'with a dash in the variable' do
+    let(:routes) { {'/:id' => app} }
+    let(:env) { EnvGenerator.get('/foo-bar') }
+    let(:app) do
+      lambda do |env|
+        [200, content_type, [Zero::Request.new(env).params['id']]]
+      end
+    end
+    let(:result) { ['foo-bar'] }
+
+    it_behaves_like "a sample app"
+  end
 end