diff --git a/lib/local-web-server.js b/lib/local-web-server.js
index 0b8f38e..2232ad1 100644
--- a/lib/local-web-server.js
+++ b/lib/local-web-server.js
@@ -113,30 +113,12 @@ function collectOptions (mwOptionDefinitions) {
     directory: process.cwd()
   }, stored, cliOptions.server, cliOptions.middleware, cliOptions.misc)
 
-  if (options.rewrite) {
-    options.rewrite = parseRewriteRules(options.rewrite)
-  }
   // console.error(require('util').inspect(options, { depth: 3, colors: true }))
 
   validateOptions(options)
   return options
 }
 
-function parseRewriteRules (rules) {
-  return rules && rules.map(rule => {
-    if (t.isString(rule)) {
-      const matches = rule.match(/(\S*)\s*->\s*(\S*)/)
-      if (!(matches && matches.length >= 3)) throw new Error('Invalid rule: ' + rule)
-      return {
-        from: matches[1],
-        to: matches[2]
-      }
-    } else {
-      return rule
-    }
-  })
-}
-
 function validateOptions (options) {
   if (!t.isNumber(options.port)) {
     tool.printError('--port must be numeric')
diff --git a/lib/middleware-stack.js b/lib/middleware-stack.js
index 47979c4..4b787b2 100644
--- a/lib/middleware-stack.js
+++ b/lib/middleware-stack.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class MiddlewareStack extends Array {
         description: "A list of URL rewrite rules. For each rule, separate the 'from' and 'to' routes with '->'. Whitespace surrounded the routes is ignored. E.g. '/from -> /to'."
       },
       middleware: function (cliOptions) {
-        const options = arrayify(cliOptions.rewrite || rewriteRules)
+        const options = parseRewriteRules(arrayify(cliOptions.rewrite || rewriteRules))
         if (options.length) {
           return options.map(route => {
             if (route.to) {
@@ -295,3 +295,18 @@ class MiddlewareStack extends Array {
 }
 
 module.exports = MiddlewareStack
+
+function parseRewriteRules (rules) {
+  return rules && rules.map(rule => {
+    if (t.isString(rule)) {
+      const matches = rule.match(/(\S*)\s*->\s*(\S*)/)
+      if (!(matches && matches.length >= 3)) throw new Error('Invalid rule: ' + rule)
+      return {
+        from: matches[1],
+        to: matches[2]
+      }
+    } else {
+      return rule
+    }
+  })
+}