diff --git a/lib/local-web-server.js b/lib/local-web-server.js
index 1eec7ca..20539d3 100644
--- a/lib/local-web-server.js
+++ b/lib/local-web-server.js
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ function localWebServer (options) {
   if (options.rewrite && options.rewrite.length) {
     options.rewrite.forEach(route => {
       if (route.to) {
+        /* `to` address is remote if the url specifies a host */
         if (url.parse(route.to).host) {
           debug('proxy rewrite', `${route.from} -> ${route.to}`)
           app.use(_.all(route.from, mw.proxyRequest(route, app)))
diff --git a/lib/middleware.js b/lib/middleware.js
index a5359ca..559adac 100644
--- a/lib/middleware.js
+++ b/lib/middleware.js
@@ -33,14 +33,6 @@ function proxyRequest (route, app) {
         .replace(re, arguments[index + 1] || '')
     })
 
-    /* test no keys remain in the new path */
-    keys.length = 0
-    pathToRegexp(url.parse(route.new).path, keys)
-    if (keys.length) {
-      this.throw(500, `[PROXY] Invalid target URL: ${route.new}`)
-      return next()
-    }
-
     this.response = false
     debug('proxy request', `from: ${this.path}, to: ${url.parse(route.new).href}`)