diff --git a/cmd/api/middleware.go b/cmd/api/middleware.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5052f87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/api/middleware.go
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+)
+
+func (app *application) recoverPanic(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
+	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		defer func() {
+			if err := recover(); err != nil {
+				w.Header().Set("Connection", "close")
+				app.serverErrorResponse(w, r, fmt.Errorf("%s", err))
+			}
+		}()
+		next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+	})
+}
diff --git a/cmd/api/routes.go b/cmd/api/routes.go
index 5acf321..5f79f26 100644
--- a/cmd/api/routes.go
+++ b/cmd/api/routes.go
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter"
 )
 
-func (app *application) routes() *httprouter.Router {
+func (app *application) routes() http.Handler {
 	router := httprouter.New()
 
 	router.NotFound = http.HandlerFunc(app.notFoundResponse)
@@ -19,5 +19,6 @@ func (app *application) routes() *httprouter.Router {
 	router.HandlerFunc(http.MethodGet, "/v1/movies/:id", app.showMovieHandler)
 	router.HandlerFunc(http.MethodPatch, "/v1/movies/:id", app.updateMovieHandler)
 	router.HandlerFunc(http.MethodDelete, "/v1/movies/:id", app.deleteMovieHandler)
-	return router
+
+	return app.recoverPanic(router)
 }