diff --git a/examples/index.php b/examples/index.php
index b8d1db3..51acd4d 100644
--- a/examples/index.php
+++ b/examples/index.php
@@ -205,8 +205,7 @@
 });
 $app->get('/error/class', 'Acme\Http\UnknownDeleteUserController'); // @phpstan-ignore-line
 
-// OPTIONS *
-$app->options('', function () {
+$app->options('*', function () {
     return new React\Http\Message\Response(200);
 });
 
diff --git a/src/App.php b/src/App.php
index b7c29c9..9fb72c7 100644
--- a/src/App.php
+++ b/src/App.php
@@ -180,6 +180,11 @@ public function delete(string $route, $handler, ...$handlers): void
      */
     public function options(string $route, $handler, ...$handlers): void
     {
+        // backward compatibility: `OPTIONS * HTTP/1.1` can be matched with empty path (legacy)
+        if ($route === '') {
+            $route = '*';
+        }
+
         $this->map(['OPTIONS'], $route, $handler, ...$handlers);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Io/RouteHandler.php b/src/Io/RouteHandler.php
index 0402d6e..2b0cf1c 100644
--- a/src/Io/RouteHandler.php
+++ b/src/Io/RouteHandler.php
@@ -76,15 +76,18 @@ public function map(array $methods, string $route, $handler, ...$handlers): void
      */
     public function __invoke(ServerRequestInterface $request)
     {
-        if ($request->getRequestTarget()[0] !== '/' && $request->getRequestTarget() !== '*') {
+        $target = $request->getRequestTarget();
+        if ($target[0] !== '/' && $target !== '*') {
             return $this->errorHandler->requestProxyUnsupported();
+        } elseif ($target !== '*') {
+            $target = $request->getUri()->getPath();
         }
 
         if ($this->routeDispatcher === null) {
             $this->routeDispatcher = new RouteDispatcher($this->routeCollector->getData());
         }
 
-        $routeInfo = $this->routeDispatcher->dispatch($request->getMethod(), $request->getUri()->getPath());
+        $routeInfo = $this->routeDispatcher->dispatch($request->getMethod(), $target);
         assert(\is_array($routeInfo) && isset($routeInfo[0]));
 
         // happy path: matching route found, assign route attributes and invoke request handler
diff --git a/tests/AppTest.php b/tests/AppTest.php
index be94e29..b5e1411 100644
--- a/tests/AppTest.php
+++ b/tests/AppTest.php
@@ -973,7 +973,36 @@ public function testHandleRequestWithMatchingRouteReturnsResponseFromMatchingRou
         $this->assertEquals("OK\n", (string) $response->getBody());
     }
 
-    public function testHandleRequestWithOptionsAsteriskRequestReturnsResponseFromMatchingEmptyRouteHandler(): void
+    public function testHandleRequestWithOptionsAsteriskRequestReturnsResponseFromMatchingAsteriskRouteHandler(): void
+    {
+        $app = $this->createAppWithoutLogger();
+
+        $app->options('*', function () {
+            return new Response(
+                200,
+                [
+                    'Content-Type' => 'text/html'
+                ],
+                "OK\n"
+            );
+        });
+
+        $request = new ServerRequest('OPTIONS', 'http://localhost');
+        $request = $request->withRequestTarget('*');
+
+        // $response = $app->handleRequest($request);
+        $ref = new ReflectionMethod($app, 'handleRequest');
+        $ref->setAccessible(true);
+        $response = $ref->invoke($app, $request);
+
+        /** @var ResponseInterface $response */
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(ResponseInterface::class, $response);
+        $this->assertEquals(200, $response->getStatusCode());
+        $this->assertEquals('text/html', $response->getHeaderLine('Content-Type'));
+        $this->assertEquals("OK\n", (string) $response->getBody());
+    }
+
+    public function testHandleRequestWithOptionsAsteriskRequestReturnsResponseFromMatchingDeprecatedEmptyRouteHandler(): void
     {
         $app = $this->createAppWithoutLogger();
 
diff --git a/tests/Io/RouteHandlerTest.php b/tests/Io/RouteHandlerTest.php
index 4f15d91..abf4482 100644
--- a/tests/Io/RouteHandlerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Io/RouteHandlerTest.php
@@ -332,14 +332,14 @@ public function testHandleRequestWithGetRequestWithHttpUrlInPathReturnsResponseF
         $this->assertSame($response, $ret);
     }
 
-    public function testHandleRequestWithOptionsAsteriskRequestReturnsResponseFromMatchingEmptyHandler(): void
+    public function testHandleRequestWithOptionsAsteriskRequestReturnsResponseFromMatchingAsteriskHandler(): void
     {
         $request = new ServerRequest('OPTIONS', 'http://example.com');
         $request = $request->withRequestTarget('*');
         $response = new Response(200, [], '');
 
         $handler = new RouteHandler();
-        $handler->map(['OPTIONS'], '', function () use ($response) { return $response; });
+        $handler->map(['OPTIONS'], '*', function () use ($response) { return $response; });
 
         $ret = $handler($request);