diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 30b5ca3..73f617c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,9 +19,11 @@ Glob is implemented to have both a functional form and an object-oriented form.
 
             glob"a/?/c"
 
+       Attempting to creat a GlobMatch object from a string with a leading `/` or the empty string is an error.
+
     2. A string, which will be converted into a GlobMatch expression:
 
-            "a/?/c" # equivalent to 1, above
+            "a/?/c" # equivalent to 1, above, except that a leading `/` is allowed here
 
     3. A vector of strings and/or objects which implement `ismatch`, including `Regex` and `Glob.FilenameMatch` objects
 
@@ -32,8 +34,6 @@ Glob is implemented to have both a functional form and an object-oriented form.
 
     4. A trailing `/` (or equivalently, a trailing empty string in the vector) will cause glob to only match directories
 
-    5. Attempting to creat a GlobMatch object from a string with a leading `/` or the empty string is an error
-
 * `readdir(pattern::GlobMatch, [directory::String])` ::
   * alias for `glob()`
 
diff --git a/src/Glob.jl b/src/Glob.jl
index bb83e75..b9e2ecd 100644
--- a/src/Glob.jl
+++ b/src/Glob.jl
@@ -343,6 +343,10 @@ function glob(pattern, prefix::String="")
     return matches
 end
 
+function glob(pattern::String)
+    first(pattern) == '/' ? glob(pattern[2:end], "/") : glob(pattern, "")
+end
+
 function _glob!(matches, pat::String)
     i = 1
     last = length(matches)