diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/code_generation.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/code_generation.rb
index 6519980198..d2d7deb212 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/code_generation.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/code_generation.rb
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ module ActionController
         end
         code = "(#{code} || #{default.inspect})" if default 
       
-        return code
+        return code.to_s
       end
     
       def segment_name() "segment#{depth}".to_sym end
diff --git a/actionpack/test/controller/routing_test.rb b/actionpack/test/controller/routing_test.rb
index 2e35320322..0a9453e86a 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/controller/routing_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/controller/routing_test.rb
@@ -622,6 +622,13 @@ class RouteSetTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
     end
   end
 
+  def test_route_with_colon_first
+    rs.draw do |map|
+      map.connect '/:controller/:action/:id', :action => 'index', :id => nil
+      map.connect ':url', :controller => 'tiny_url', :action => 'translate'
+    end
+  end
+
   def test_basic_named_route
     rs.home '', :controller => 'content', :action => 'list' 
     x = setup_for_named_route