diff --git a/include/r3.h b/include/r3.h
index b7d17cd..8c61b4e 100644
--- a/include/r3.h
+++ b/include/r3.h
@@ -181,6 +181,6 @@ int r3_pattern_to_opcode(char * pattern, int pattern_len);
 
 enum { NODE_COMPARE_STR, NODE_COMPARE_PCRE, NODE_COMPARE_OPCODE };
 
-enum { OP_EXPECT_DIGITS = 1, OP_EXPECT_WORDS, OP_EXPECT_NOSLASH, OP_EXPECT_NODASH };
+enum { OP_EXPECT_MORE_DIGITS = 1, OP_EXPECT_MORE_WORDS, OP_EXPECT_NOSLASH, OP_EXPECT_NODASH, OP_EXPECT_MORE_ALPHA };
 
 #endif /* !R3_NODE_H */
diff --git a/src/node.c b/src/node.c
index 91e254a..3e6f474 100644
--- a/src/node.c
+++ b/src/node.c
@@ -8,9 +8,6 @@
 // PCRE
 #include <pcre.h>
 
-// Judy array
-// #include <Judy.h>
-
 #include "r3.h"
 #include "r3_str.h"
 #include "str_array.h"
@@ -270,24 +267,19 @@ node * r3_tree_matchl(const node * n, char * path, int path_len, match_entry * e
             e = n->edges[i];
             switch(e->opcode) {
                 case OP_EXPECT_NOSLASH:
-                    while (*pp != '/' && pp < pp_end) {
-                        pp++;
-                    }
+                    while (*pp != '/' && pp < pp_end) pp++;
                     break;
-                case OP_EXPECT_DIGITS:
-                    while ( isdigit(*pp) && pp < pp_end) {
-                        pp++;
-                    }
+                case OP_EXPECT_MORE_ALPHA:
+                    while ( isalpha(*pp) && pp < pp_end) pp++;
                     break;
-                case OP_EXPECT_WORDS:
-                    while ( (isdigit(*pp) || isalpha(*pp)) && pp < pp_end) {
-                        pp++;
-                    }
+                case OP_EXPECT_MORE_DIGITS:
+                    while ( isdigit(*pp) && pp < pp_end) pp++;
+                    break;
+                case OP_EXPECT_MORE_WORDS:
+                    while ( (isdigit(*pp) || isalpha(*pp)) && pp < pp_end) pp++;
                     break;
                 case OP_EXPECT_NODASH:
-                    while (*pp != '-' && pp < pp_end) {
-                        pp++;
-                    }
+                    while (*pp != '-' && pp < pp_end) pp++;
                     break;
             }
             // check match
diff --git a/src/str.c b/src/str.c
index 8f7e839..c794761 100644
--- a/src/str.c
+++ b/src/str.c
@@ -15,10 +15,19 @@
 
 int r3_pattern_to_opcode(char * pattern, int len) {
     if ( strncmp(pattern, "\\w+",len) == 0 ) {
-        return OP_EXPECT_WORDS;
+        return OP_EXPECT_MORE_WORDS;
+    }
+    if ( strncmp(pattern, "[0-9a-z]+",len) == 0 ||  strncmp(pattern, "[a-z0-9]+",len) == 0  ) {
+        return OP_EXPECT_MORE_WORDS;
+    }
+    if ( strncmp(pattern, "[a-z]+",len) == 0 ) {
+        return OP_EXPECT_MORE_ALPHA;
     }
     if ( strncmp(pattern, "\\d+", len) == 0 ) {
-        return OP_EXPECT_DIGITS;
+        return OP_EXPECT_MORE_DIGITS;
+    }
+    if ( strncmp(pattern, "[0-9]+", len) == 0 ) {
+        return OP_EXPECT_MORE_DIGITS;
     }
     if ( strncmp(pattern, "[^/]+", len) == 0 ) {
         return OP_EXPECT_NOSLASH;
diff --git a/tests/check_slug.c b/tests/check_slug.c
index 9959d54..c2e955c 100644
--- a/tests/check_slug.c
+++ b/tests/check_slug.c
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
 
 START_TEST (test_pattern_to_opcode)
 {
-    ck_assert( r3_pattern_to_opcode("\\w+", strlen("\\w+")) == OP_EXPECT_WORDS );
-    ck_assert( r3_pattern_to_opcode("\\d+", strlen("\\d+")) == OP_EXPECT_DIGITS );
+    ck_assert( r3_pattern_to_opcode("\\w+", strlen("\\w+")) == OP_EXPECT_MORE_WORDS );
+    ck_assert( r3_pattern_to_opcode("\\d+", strlen("\\d+")) == OP_EXPECT_MORE_DIGITS );
     ck_assert( r3_pattern_to_opcode("[^/]+",strlen("[^/]+")) == OP_EXPECT_NOSLASH );
     ck_assert( r3_pattern_to_opcode("[^-]+",strlen("[^-]+")) == OP_EXPECT_NODASH );
 }