diff --git a/core/event.php b/core/event.php
index c9230d9a..65e5cdc0 100644
--- a/core/event.php
+++ b/core/event.php
@@ -91,9 +91,7 @@ class PageRequestEvent extends Event
         );
 
         // break the path into parts
-        $args = explode('/', $path);
-
-        $this->args = $args;
+        $this->args = explode('/', $path);
     }
 
     public function get_GET(string $key): ?string
@@ -165,6 +163,11 @@ class PageRequestEvent extends Event
         return $value;
     }
 
+    public function page_starts_with(string $name): bool
+    {
+        return (count($this->args) >= 1) && ($this->args[0] == $name);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Test if the requested path matches a given pattern.
      *
diff --git a/ext/setup/main.php b/ext/setup/main.php
index 78920c6e..04410707 100644
--- a/ext/setup/main.php
+++ b/ext/setup/main.php
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ class Setup extends Extension
     {
         global $config, $page, $user;
 
-        if ($event->page_matches("nicedebug")) {
+        if ($event->page_starts_with("nicedebug")) {
             $page->set_mode(PageMode::DATA);
             $page->set_data(json_encode_ex([
                 "args" => $event->args,
diff --git a/ext/setup/test.php b/ext/setup/test.php
index c1d9a057..de4f3668 100644
--- a/ext/setup/test.php
+++ b/ext/setup/test.php
@@ -16,6 +16,13 @@ class SetupTest extends ShimmiePHPUnitTestCase
         $this->assert_no_content("\n");
     }
 
+    public function testNiceDebug(): void
+    {
+        // the automatic testing for shimmie2-examples depends on this
+        $page = $this->get_page('nicedebug/foo%2Fbar/1');
+        $this->assertEquals('{"args":["nicedebug","foo%2Fbar","1"]}', $page->data);
+    }
+
     public function testAuthAnon(): void
     {
         $this->assertException(PermissionDenied::class, function () {