diff --git a/src/str.c b/src/str.c
index c2e7721..c21cdef 100644
--- a/src/str.c
+++ b/src/str.c
@@ -42,30 +42,30 @@ int r3_pattern_to_opcode(const char * pattern, int len) {
 /**
  * provide a quick way to count slugs, simply search for '{'
  */
-int slug_count(const char * p, int len, char **errstr) {
-    int s = 0;
-    int lev = 0;
-    while( len-- ) {
-        if ( lev == 0 && *p == '{' )
-            s++;
-        if ( *p == '{' ) {
-            lev++;
+int slug_count(const char * needle, int len, char **errstr) {
+    int cnt = 0;
+    int state = 0;
+    char * p = (char*) needle;
+
+    while( (p-needle) < len) {
+        if (state == 1 && *p == '}') {
+            cnt++;
         }
-        if ( *p == '}' ) {
-            lev--;
+        if ( *p == '{' ) {
+            state++;
+        } else if ( *p == '}' ) {
+            state--;
         }
         p++;
-    }
-    /*
-    XXX:
-    if (lev != 0) {
+    };
+    info("FOUND PATTERN: %s (%d), CHAR: '%s', STATE: %d\n", needle, len, p, state);
+    if (state != 0) {
         if (errstr) {
-            asprintf(errstr, "incomplete slug pattern: %s", p);
+            asprintf(errstr, "incomplete slug pattern. PATTERN: %s (%d), CHAR: '%s', STATE: %d\n", needle, len, p, state);
         }
         return 0;
     }
-    */
-    return s;
+    return cnt;
 }
 
 bool contains_slug(const char * str) {
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index 2cf24db..b734472 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ TESTS += check_gvc
 check_gvc_SOURCES = check_gvc.c
 endif
 
-TESTS += benchmark
-benchmark_SOURCES = bench.c
+
+# TESTS += benchmark
+# benchmark_SOURCES = bench.c
 
 check_PROGRAMS = $(TESTS)
 
diff --git a/tests/check_slug.c b/tests/check_slug.c
index ca42f85..7ba7a10 100644
--- a/tests/check_slug.c
+++ b/tests/check_slug.c
@@ -84,11 +84,15 @@ END_TEST
 
 START_TEST (test_slug_count)
 {
+    int cnt = 0;
     char * pattern = "/user/{name:\\s+}/to/{id}";
-    ck_assert_int_eq( slug_count(pattern, strlen(pattern), NULL), 2 );
+    char * errstr = NULL;
+    cnt = slug_count(pattern, strlen(pattern), &errstr);
+    ck_assert_int_eq(cnt, 2);
 
     char * pattern2 = "/user/{name:\\d{3}}/to/{id}";
-    ck_assert_int_eq( slug_count(pattern2, strlen(pattern), NULL), 2 );
+    cnt = slug_count(pattern2, strlen(pattern2), &errstr);
+    ck_assert_int_eq(cnt, 2);
 }
 END_TEST
 
@@ -96,7 +100,7 @@ START_TEST (test_slug_find_placeholder_with_broken_slug)
 {
     int slug_len = 0;
     char * slug = slug_find_placeholder("/user/{name:\\s+/to/{id", &slug_len);
-    ck_assert(! slug);
+    ck_assert(slug == 0);
 }
 END_TEST