diff --git a/middleware/url_format.go b/middleware/url_format.go
index 919eb0fe..da27ee9b 100644
--- a/middleware/url_format.go
+++ b/middleware/url_format.go
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
 )
 
+const (
+	errRouteContextNil = "RouteContext was nil."
+)
+
 var (
 	// URLFormatCtxKey is the context.Context key to store the URL format data
 	// for a request.
@@ -52,7 +56,12 @@ func URLFormat(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 		path := r.URL.Path
 
 		rctx := chi.RouteContext(r.Context())
-		if rctx != nil && rctx.RoutePath != "" {
+		if rctx == nil {
+			http.Error(w, errRouteContextNil, http.StatusInternalServerError)
+			return
+		}
+
+		if rctx.RoutePath != "" {
 			path = rctx.RoutePath
 		}
 
diff --git a/middleware/url_format_test.go b/middleware/url_format_test.go
index e1ac324f..08873e82 100644
--- a/middleware/url_format_test.go
+++ b/middleware/url_format_test.go
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 package middleware
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
@@ -67,3 +69,30 @@ func TestURLFormatInSubRouter(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf(resp)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestURLFormatWithoutChiRouteContext(t *testing.T) {
+	r := chi.NewRouter()
+
+	r.Use(func(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
+		return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			newCtx := context.WithValue(r.Context(), chi.RouteCtxKey, nil)
+			next.ServeHTTP(w, r.WithContext(newCtx))
+		})
+	})
+	r.Use(URLFormat)
+	r.Get("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.Write([]byte("OK"))
+	})
+
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(r)
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	resp, respBody := testRequest(t, ts, "GET", "/", nil)
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusInternalServerError {
+		t.Fatalf("non 500 response: %v", resp.StatusCode)
+	}
+
+	if strings.TrimSpace(respBody) != errRouteContextNil {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected error message: %s, but got: %s", errRouteContextNil, respBody)
+	}
+}