diff --git a/test/Makefile b/test/Makefile
index 85d5ee9..7b9813a 100644
--- a/test/Makefile
+++ b/test/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 
 LEVEL = 4
 
-test: spec-examples spec-examples-by-section extended variables
+test: spec-examples spec-examples-by-section extended variables regex
 
 spec-examples:
 	PYTHONPATH=..:$(PYTHONPATH) python uritemplate_test.py cases/spec-examples.json $(LEVEL)
@@ -17,3 +17,6 @@ negative:
 
 variables:
 	PYTHONPATH=..:$(PYTHONPATH) python variables_test.py
+
+regex:
+	PYTHONPATH=..:$(PYTHONPATH) python regex_test.py
diff --git a/test/regex_test.py b/test/regex_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f93ad69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/regex_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+'''
+Tests related to the as_regex function. Uses the same testcases as the
+expand function, but repurposes them to ensure the regex created
+produces the right output.
+'''
+import sys
+from os.path import join, dirname
+try:
+    import json
+except ImportError:
+    import simplejson as json
+import urllib
+import traceback
+import pdb
+
+import uritemplate
+
+TESTFILES  = [
+    'spec-examples.json',
+    'spec-examples-by-section.json',
+    'extended-tests.json',
+]
+
+
+def correct_answers(var):
+    '''Take a variable and produce a list of possibly correct
+    answers'''
+    safe = ":/?#[]@!$&'()*+,;="
+    def quote(v):
+        v = '' if v is None else v
+        return urllib.quote(str(v), '')
+
+    def restrictquote(v):
+        v = '' if v is None else v
+        return urllib.quote(str(v), safe)
+
+    if isinstance(var, list):
+        return [','.join(map(restrictquote, var)),
+                ','.join(map(quote, var))]
+    elif isinstance(var, dict):
+        return [urllib.urlencode(var, safe),
+                ','.join(restrictquote(v) 
+                         for item in var.iteritems() for v in item),
+                ','.join(quote(v) for item in var.iteritems() for v in item),
+                ]
+    else:
+        return [restrictquote(var), quote(var)]
+
+def _print_level(level, prefix):
+    def _print_method(self, tpl, *args, **kwargs):
+        if self.verbosity >= level:
+            print prefix, tpl.format(*args, **kwargs)
+    return _print_method
+
+
+class TestRunner(object):
+    def __init__(self, verbosity=0, one_failure=False, fail_into_pdb=False):
+        self.verbosity = verbosity
+        self.one_failure = one_failure
+        self.fail_into_pdb = fail_into_pdb
+
+        self.failures = 0
+        self.successes = 0
+
+    print1 = _print_level(1, '||')
+    print2 = _print_level(2, ';;')
+    print3 = _print_level(3, ',,')
+    print4 = _print_level(4, '. ')
+
+    def main(self):
+        cases_dir = join(dirname(__file__), 'cases')
+        for testfile in TESTFILES:
+            self.print2('Running Testfile: {0}', testfile)
+            self.print2('=' * 80)
+            with open(join(cases_dir, testfile), 'r') as tf:
+                self.test_document(json.load(tf))
+        self.finish()
+
+    def test_document(self, test_doc):
+        for testname, testdef in sorted(test_doc.iteritems()):
+            fails, succeeds = 0, 0
+            self.print2('{0}:', testname)
+            variables = testdef['variables']
+            testcases = testdef['testcases']
+            for major_num, (template, inputs) in enumerate(testcases, 1):
+                if not isinstance(inputs, list):
+                    # Correct for multiple 'expected'
+                    inputs = [inputs]
+                for minor_num, to_match in enumerate(inputs, 1):
+                    self.print3('  Case # {0}.{1}', major_num, minor_num)
+                    if not self.test(variables, template, to_match):
+                        fails += 1
+                        self.failures += 1
+                        if self.one_failure:
+                            self.finish()
+                    else:
+                        self.successes += 1
+                        succeeds += 1
+            self.print2("  {0} Successes, {1} Failures", succeeds, fails)
+
+    def finish(self, final=False):
+        self.print1('{0} tests succeeded.', self.successes)
+        self.print1('{0} tests failed', self.failures)
+        sys.exit(self.failures)
+
+    def test(self, variables, template, to_match):
+        # Normalize url escaping since mixed quoting is not what the
+        # regex will be used for
+        self.print4("'{0}' matching '{1}'", template, to_match)
+        try:
+            testvars = uritemplate.variables(template)
+            regex = uritemplate.as_regex(template)
+        except Exception as e:
+            if self.fail_into_pdb:
+                pdb.post_mortem()
+            self.print4(traceback.format_exc())
+            self.print3('    Failed with: ' + repr(e))
+            return False
+        self.print4('Regex is: {0}', regex.pattern)
+
+        try:
+            matchvars = regex.match(to_match).groupdict()
+        except AttributeError:
+            if self.fail_into_pdb:
+                pdb.post_mortem()
+            self.print3('    Failed with: Regex did not match expected')
+            return False
+                
+        for var in testvars:
+            match_var = matchvars.get(var)
+            if not self.matches(match_var, variables[var], var):
+                if self.fail_into_pdb:
+                    pdb.set_trace()
+                return False
+        return True
+
+    def matches(self, match_var, expect_var, varname):
+        possible_correct = correct_answers(expect_var)
+        for answer in possible_correct:
+            if answer.startswith(match_var):
+                result = True
+                break
+        else:
+            result = False
+            self.print3_expectation(match_var, possible_correct, varname)
+        return result
+
+    def print3_expectation(self, match_var, answers, var):
+        if len(set(answers)) == 1:
+            outstring = "    For '{var}' expected '{varU}',"\
+                        " got '{match_var}'"
+        else:
+            outstring = "    For '{var}' expected one of {answers!r}"\
+                        ", got '{match_var}'"
+        self.print3(
+            outstring, var=var, match_var=match_var, answers=answers)
+
+    
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    verbosity, one_failure = 0, False
+    if '-1' in sys.argv:
+        verbosity = 1
+    if '-2' in sys.argv:
+        verbosity = 2
+    if '-3' in sys.argv:
+        verbosity = 3
+    if '-4' in sys.argv:
+        verbosity = 4
+    TR = TestRunner(
+        verbosity=verbosity,
+        one_failure='-x' in sys.argv,
+        fail_into_pdb='-pdb' in sys.argv,
+    )
+    TR.main()
+
diff --git a/uritemplate/__init__.py b/uritemplate/__init__.py
index dc646f9..1d02923 100644
--- a/uritemplate/__init__.py
+++ b/uritemplate/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 
-from uritemplate import expand, variables
+from uritemplate import expand, variables, as_regex
 
 __version__ = "0.5.2"
diff --git a/uritemplate/uritemplate.py b/uritemplate/uritemplate.py
index d8c7f1a..5da947a 100644
--- a/uritemplate/uritemplate.py
+++ b/uritemplate/uritemplate.py
@@ -46,6 +46,117 @@ def variables(template):
     return vars
 
 
+class Regexifier(object):
+
+    PERCENT_ENCODED = r'%[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9]'
+    # Add ',' to unreserved since a single variable can be expanded to
+    # multiple values if a composite value is passed in
+    UNRESERVED = r'''[a-zA-Z0-9_.~\-,]'''
+    RESERVED = r'''[:/?#\[\]@!$&'()*+,;=]'''
+
+    @classmethod
+    def capture(cls, varname, op=None, joiner=',', cap=None, explode=False):
+        '''Returns a string for a variable capture regex for the given
+        operation'''
+        if op in ('+', '#'):
+            allowed = '|'.join([cls.UNRESERVED.replace(joiner, ''),
+                                cls.RESERVED.replace(joiner, ''),
+                                cls.PERCENT_ENCODED])
+        else:
+            allowed = '|'.join([cls.UNRESERVED.replace(op, ''),
+                                cls.PERCENT_ENCODED])
+
+        return r'''{key}(?P<{varname}>(?:{allowed}){repeat})'''.format(
+            key=varname + '=?' if cls.is_keyval(op) else '',
+            varname=varname,
+            allowed=allowed,
+            repeat = '{0,' + cap + '}' if cap else '*'
+        )
+
+    @classmethod
+    def is_keyval(cls, op):
+        return op in (';', '?', '&')
+
+    @classmethod
+    def escape_or_substitute(cls, section):
+        '''If the section passed in is a variable expression, replace
+        it with a variable capture group. Otherwise, escape it so
+        characters don't interfere with the final regex'''
+        match = TEMPLATE.match(section)
+        if not match:
+            return re.escape(section)
+        else:
+            return cls.process_expression(match.group(1))
+
+    @classmethod
+    def process_expression(cls, expression):
+        '''Breaks a variable expression into its parts and creates the
+           proper regex for them'''
+        if expression[0] in OPERATOR:
+            op = expression[0]
+            expression = expression[1:]
+        else:
+            op = ''
+        expressions = cls.split_vars(expression)
+        joiner = cls.joiner_for(op)
+        prefix = cls.prefix_for(op)
+        pieces = (cls.capture(varname, op, joiner, cap, explode)
+                  for varname, cap, explode in expressions)
+        # Need to escape joiner since some of them have regex meaning
+        return prefix + ('\\' + joiner).join(pieces)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def split_vars(cls, expression):
+        vars = expression.split(',')
+        def cap_or_none(var):
+            explode = False
+            try:
+                var, cap = var.split(':')
+            except Exception:
+                var, cap = var, None
+                if var.endswith('*'):
+                    explode = True
+                    var = var[:-1]
+            return var, cap, explode
+        return (cap_or_none(var) for var in vars)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def joiner_for(cls, op):
+        if op in ('?', '&'):
+            return '&'
+        elif op in ('.', '/', ';'):
+            return op
+        else:
+            return ','
+
+    @classmethod
+    def prefix_for(cls, op):
+        if op in ('#', '?', '.', '/', ';', '&'):
+            return '\\' + op
+        else:
+            return ''
+
+    @classmethod
+    def explode(cls, string):
+        '''Explodes a string based on variable expressions.'''
+        var_expr = re.compile(r'({[^\\}]+})')
+        return var_expr.split(string)
+        
+    @classmethod
+    def regexify(cls, uritemplate):
+        '''Converts the given uritemplate and converts it to a regex
+        with named capture groups for each template variable'''
+        exploded = cls.explode(uritemplate)
+        return re.compile(''.join(
+            cls.escape_or_substitute(section) for section in exploded))
+
+
+def as_regex(uritemplate):
+    '''Returns a regex matching the given template, with capture
+    groups named after the template variable names'''
+    return Regexifier.regexify(uritemplate)
+
+
 def _quote(value, safe, prefix=None):
     if prefix is not None:
         return quote(str(value)[:prefix], safe)