diff --git a/src/functions.sh b/src/functions.sh
index 1e7bbab0..1b7dc48f 100644
--- a/src/functions.sh
+++ b/src/functions.sh
@@ -172,6 +172,10 @@ add_host() {
 
       $TYPE_URL)
         mkdir -p "$htaccess_directory"
+        # normalize the url provided to make sure the hostname part is
+        # followed by at least /
+        value=`echo $value | sed -e 's#\([^/:]*://\)\?\([^/]*\)/*\(.*\)#\1\2/\3#'`
+
         (echo "RewriteEngine on"
          echo "RewriteRule (.*) ${value}\$1 [R,L]"
         ) > "$htaccess_directory/.htaccess"