diff --git a/multistream.go b/multistream.go
index f61b24e..a34a7d1 100644
--- a/multistream.go
+++ b/multistream.go
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 )
 
@@ -23,20 +25,16 @@ const ProtocolID = "/multistream/1.0.0"
 // handle a protocol/stream.
 type HandlerFunc func(protocol string, rwc io.ReadWriteCloser) error
 
-// Handler is a wrapper to HandlerFunc which attaches a name (protocol) and a
-// match function which can optionally be used to select a handler by other
-// means than the name.
-type Handler struct {
-	MatchFunc func(string) bool
-	Handle    HandlerFunc
-	AddName   string
+type handler struct {
+	prefix, exclusive bool
+	handler           HandlerFunc
 }
 
 // MultistreamMuxer is a muxer for multistream. Depending on the stream
 // protocol tag it will select the right handler and hand the stream off to it.
 type MultistreamMuxer struct {
-	handlerlock sync.Mutex
-	handlers    []Handler
+	handlerlock sync.RWMutex
+	handlers    map[string]*handler
 }
 
 // NewMultistreamMuxer creates a muxer.
@@ -107,56 +105,134 @@ func Ls(rw io.ReadWriter) ([]string, error) {
 	return out, nil
 }
 
-func fulltextMatch(s string) func(string) bool {
-	return func(a string) bool {
-		return a == s
+type Options struct {
+	Prefix, Override, Exclusive bool
+}
+
+func (opts *Options) Apply(options ...Option) error {
+	for _, opt := range options {
+		if err := opt(opts); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
+	return nil
 }
 
-// AddHandler attaches a new protocol handler to the muxer.
-func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) AddHandler(protocol string, handler HandlerFunc) {
-	msm.AddHandlerWithFunc(protocol, fulltextMatch(protocol), handler)
+// Option is a stream handler option.
+type Option func(*Options) error
+
+// Prefix configures the protocol handler to handle all protocols prefixed
+// with the specified protocol name.
+//
+// Note: This only works for paths. That is, `/a/b` is a protocol-prefix of
+// `/a/b/c` but not `/a/bad`.
+//
+// Defaults to false.
+func Prefix(isPrefix bool) Option {
+	return func(opts *Options) error {
+		opts.Prefix = isPrefix
+		return nil
+	}
 }
 
-// AddHandlerWithFunc attaches a new protocol handler to the muxer with a match.
-// If the match function returns true for a given protocol tag, the protocol
-// will be selected even if the handler name and protocol tags are different.
-func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) AddHandlerWithFunc(protocol string, match func(string) bool, handler HandlerFunc) {
-	msm.handlerlock.Lock()
-	msm.removeHandler(protocol)
-	msm.handlers = append(msm.handlers, Handler{
-		MatchFunc: match,
-		Handle:    handler,
-		AddName:   protocol,
-	})
-	msm.handlerlock.Unlock()
+// Exclusive configures the protocol handler as the *exclusive* handler for the
+// specified protocol and all sub-protocols.
+//
+// Defaults to false.
+func Exclusive(exclusive bool) Option {
+	return func(opts *Options) error {
+		opts.Exclusive = exclusive
+		return nil
+	}
 }
 
-// RemoveHandler removes the handler with the given name from the muxer.
-func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) RemoveHandler(protocol string) {
+// Override configures the protocol handler to *override* any existing protocol
+// handlers.
+//
+// If the Exclusive option is passed, any sub-protocol handlers will be
+// removed before registering this protocol handler.
+//
+// Protocol registration will fail if there exists a protocol that:
+//   * Is a strict prefix of this protocol.
+//   * Has the Exclusive option set.
+// Not doing so would either (a) leave some protocols unhandled or (b) break the expected behavior of Exclusive
+//
+// Defaults to false.
+func Override(override bool) Option {
+	return func(opts *Options) error {
+		opts.Override = override
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
+// AddHandler attaches a new protocol handler to the muxer, overriding any
+// existing handlers.
+func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) AddHandler(protocol string, handlerFunc HandlerFunc, options ...Option) error {
+	var opts Options
+	if err := opts.Apply(options...); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	msm.handlerlock.Lock()
 	defer msm.handlerlock.Unlock()
 
-	msm.removeHandler(protocol)
-}
+	if msm.handlers == nil {
+		msm.handlers = make(map[string]*handler, 1)
+	}
 
-func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) removeHandler(protocol string) {
-	for i, h := range msm.handlers {
-		if h.AddName == protocol {
-			msm.handlers = append(msm.handlers[:i], msm.handlers[i+1:]...)
-			return
+	if _, ok := msm.handlers[protocol]; ok {
+		// Handle exact match case.
+		if !opts.Override {
+			// If we haven't specified override, bail.
+			return fmt.Errorf("protocol %q already registered", protocol)
+		}
+		delete(msm.handlers, protocol)
+
+		// If we have successfully overridden the protocol, we *know*
+		// there can't be any exclusive prefixes registered.
+	} else if currentName, currentHandler := msm.findHandlerLocked(protocol); currentHandler != nil && currentHandler.exclusive {
+		// If there *is* an exclusive strict-prefix registered, we can't
+		// register this protocol (even if we've specified override),
+		// bail.
+		return fmt.Errorf("when registering protocol %q, found conflicting exclusive protocol %q", protocol, currentName)
+	}
+
+	// If we're registering this protocol exclusively, check for any
+	// already-registered sub-protocols.
+	if opts.Exclusive {
+		prefix := protocol + "/"
+		for existing := range msm.handlers {
+			if !strings.HasPrefix(existing, prefix) {
+				continue
+			}
+			if !opts.Override {
+				return fmt.Errorf("when registering exclusive protocol %q, found conflicting protocol %q", protocol, existing)
+			}
+			delete(msm.handlers, existing)
 		}
 	}
+	msm.handlers[protocol] = &handler{
+		handler:   handlerFunc,
+		prefix:    opts.Prefix,
+		exclusive: opts.Exclusive,
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// RemoveHandler removes the handler with the given name from the muxer.
+func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) RemoveHandler(protocol string) {
+	msm.handlerlock.Lock()
+	defer msm.handlerlock.Unlock()
+	delete(msm.handlers, protocol)
 }
 
 // Protocols returns the list of handler-names added to this this muxer.
 func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) Protocols() []string {
-	var out []string
-	msm.handlerlock.Lock()
-	for _, h := range msm.handlers {
-		out = append(out, h.AddName)
+	msm.handlerlock.RLock()
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(msm.handlers))
+	for k := range msm.handlers {
+		out = append(out, k)
 	}
-	msm.handlerlock.Unlock()
+	msm.handlerlock.RUnlock()
 	return out
 }
 
@@ -164,17 +240,36 @@ func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) Protocols() []string {
 // fails because of a ProtocolID mismatch.
 var ErrIncorrectVersion = errors.New("client connected with incorrect version")
 
-func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) findHandler(proto string) *Handler {
+// findHandler tries to find a handler for the given protocol
+func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) findHandler(proto string) (name string, h *handler) {
 	msm.handlerlock.Lock()
 	defer msm.handlerlock.Unlock()
+	return msm.findHandlerLocked(proto)
+}
 
-	for _, h := range msm.handlers {
-		if h.MatchFunc(proto) {
-			return &h
+// findHandlerLocked is a version of findHandler that expects the lock to already have been taken.
+func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) findHandlerLocked(proto string) (name string, h *handler) {
+	handler, ok := msm.handlers[proto]
+	if ok {
+		return name, handler
+	}
+	for {
+		idx := strings.LastIndexByte(proto, '/')
+		if idx < 0 {
+			break
 		}
+		proto = proto[:idx]
+		handler, ok := msm.handlers[proto]
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+		// Found a handler but it doesn't handle sub-protocols, bailing.
+		if !handler.prefix {
+			break
+		}
+		return name, handler
 	}
-
-	return nil
+	return "", nil
 }
 
 // NegotiateLazy performs protocol selection and returns
@@ -240,7 +335,7 @@ loop:
 				return nil, "", nil, err
 			}
 		default:
-			h := msm.findHandler(tok)
+			_, h := msm.findHandler(tok)
 			if h == nil {
 				select {
 				case pval <- "na":
@@ -260,7 +355,7 @@ loop:
 			}
 
 			// hand off processing to the sub-protocol handler
-			return lzc, tok, h.Handle, nil
+			return lzc, tok, h.handler, nil
 		}
 	}
 }
@@ -299,7 +394,7 @@ loop:
 				return "", nil, err
 			}
 		default:
-			h := msm.findHandler(tok)
+			_, h := msm.findHandler(tok)
 			if h == nil {
 				err := delimWriteBuffered(rwc, []byte("na"))
 				if err != nil {
@@ -314,7 +409,7 @@ loop:
 			}
 
 			// hand off processing to the sub-protocol handler
-			return tok, h.Handle, nil
+			return tok, h.handler, nil
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -324,20 +419,21 @@ loop:
 // supported protocols to the given Writer.
 func (msm *MultistreamMuxer) Ls(w io.Writer) error {
 	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
-	msm.handlerlock.Lock()
+	msm.handlerlock.RLock()
 	err := writeUvarint(buf, uint64(len(msm.handlers)))
 	if err != nil {
+		msm.handlerlock.RUnlock()
 		return err
 	}
 
-	for _, h := range msm.handlers {
-		err := delimWrite(buf, []byte(h.AddName))
+	for k := range msm.handlers {
+		err := delimWrite(buf, []byte(k))
 		if err != nil {
-			msm.handlerlock.Unlock()
+			msm.handlerlock.RUnlock()
 			return err
 		}
 	}
-	msm.handlerlock.Unlock()
+	msm.handlerlock.RUnlock()
 	ll := make([]byte, 16)
 	nw := binary.PutUvarint(ll, uint64(buf.Len()))
 
diff --git a/multistream_test.go b/multistream_test.go
index 5076209..15437e3 100644
--- a/multistream_test.go
+++ b/multistream_test.go
@@ -442,6 +442,79 @@ func TestHandleFunc(t *testing.T) {
 	verifyPipe(t, a, b)
 }
 
+func TestAddHandlerOptions(t *testing.T) {
+	mux := NewMultistreamMuxer()
+	handlerCalled := make(chan string, 1)
+	setHandler := func(protocol string, opts ...Option) {
+		if err := mux.AddHandler(protocol, func(p string, rwc io.ReadWriteCloser) error {
+			handlerCalled <- protocol
+			return nil
+		}, opts...); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	setHandler("/foo", Prefix(true))
+	setHandler("/foo/bar")
+	setHandler("/a/b/c/d")
+
+	if err := mux.AddHandler("/a/b/c", nil, Exclusive(true)); err == nil {
+		t.Error("expected error registering exclusive, conflicting, protocol")
+	}
+	setHandler("/a/b/c", Exclusive(true), Override(true), Prefix(true))
+
+	if err := mux.AddHandler("/a/b/c/d", nil, Exclusive(true), Override(true)); err == nil {
+		t.Error("expected error registering exclusive, conflicting, sub-protocol")
+	}
+
+	for proto, expected := range map[string]string{
+		"/foo":        "/foo",
+		"/foo/baz":    "/foo",
+		"/foo/barbar": "/foo",
+		"/foo/bar":    "/foo/bar",
+		"/a/b/c/d":    "/a/b/c",
+	} {
+		a, b := newPipe(t)
+		go func() {
+			err := SelectProtoOrFail(proto, a)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Error(err)
+			}
+		}()
+		err := mux.Handle(b)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+			continue
+		}
+		verifyPipe(t, a, b)
+		actual := <-handlerCalled
+		if actual != expected {
+			t.Errorf("wrong handler called: expected %s, got %s", expected, actual)
+		}
+		a.Close()
+		b.Close()
+	}
+	a, b := newPipe(t)
+	go func() {
+		err := SelectProtoOrFail("/foo/bar/baz", a)
+		a.Close()
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Error("protocol selection should have failed")
+		}
+	}()
+	err := mux.Handle(b)
+	b.Close()
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("protocol selection should have failed")
+	}
+
+	if mux.AddHandler("/foo", nil) == nil {
+		t.Error("should have failed to override handler")
+	}
+	if err := mux.AddHandler("/foo", nil, Override(true)); err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestAddHandlerOverride(t *testing.T) {
 	a, b := newPipe(t)
 
@@ -453,7 +526,7 @@ func TestAddHandlerOverride(t *testing.T) {
 
 	mux.AddHandler("/foo", func(p string, rwc io.ReadWriteCloser) error {
 		return nil
-	})
+	}, Override(true))
 
 	go func() {
 		err := SelectProtoOrFail("/foo", a)