diff --git a/lib/path/index.js b/lib/path/index.js
index a0fafc7..a6f818c 100644
--- a/lib/path/index.js
+++ b/lib/path/index.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 var PATH_SEPERATOR = "/",
-    VARIABLE_START = "{",
-    VARIABLE_END = "}",
+    VARIABLE_START = "(?P",
+    VARIABLE_END = ")",
     part_builder = require('./part_builder'),
     builder = part_builder(),
     Part = require('./part').Part;
diff --git a/lib/path/part_builder.js b/lib/path/part_builder.js
index eec75f1..de0e8dd 100644
--- a/lib/path/part_builder.js
+++ b/lib/path/part_builder.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ PartBuilder.prototype.build = function build(part, params) {
 };
 
 function paramType(part, params) {
-  if (part.indexOf('{') === 0) {
+  if (part.indexOf('(?P') === 0) {
     return new Part(part, {type:'param', label:part, editable:true, meta:params[part], encode:function(v) {
       return encodeURIComponent(v);
     }});