diff --git a/lib/apache/rewrites.rb b/lib/apache/rewrites.rb
index 3298d08..b7649c9 100644
--- a/lib/apache/rewrites.rb
+++ b/lib/apache/rewrites.rb
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ module Apache
     #
     #  r301 '/here', '/there' #=> Redirect permanent "/here" "/there"
     def r301(*opt)
+      if opt.first && !opt.first.kind_of?(::String)
+        raise "First parameter should be a String. Did you mean to wrap this in a rewrites block? #{opt.first}"
+      end
       self << "Redirect permanent #{quoteize(*opt) * " "}"
     end
   end