diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/pattern/PathPattern.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/pattern/PathPattern.java
index 2af53b1cb8..ef608e503f 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/pattern/PathPattern.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/pattern/PathPattern.java
@@ -175,26 +175,28 @@ public class PathPattern implements Comparable<PathPattern> {
 		MatchingContext matchingContext = new MatchingContext(pathContainer, false);
 		return this.head.matches(0, matchingContext);
 	}
-	
+
 	/**
 	 * Match this pattern to the given URI path and return extracted URI template
 	 * variables as well as path parameters (matrix variables).
 	 * @param pathContainer the candidate path to attempt to match against
-	 * @return info object with the extracted variables
-	 * @throws IllegalStateException if the path does not match the pattern
+	 * @return info object with the extracted variables, or {@code null} for no match
 	 */
+	@Nullable
 	public PathMatchInfo matchAndExtract(PathContainer pathContainer) {
-		MatchingContext matchingContext = new MatchingContext(pathContainer, true);
-		if (this.head != null && this.head.matches(0, matchingContext)) {
-			return matchingContext.getPathMatchResult();
+		if (this.head == null) {
+			return hasLength(pathContainer) ? null : PathMatchInfo.EMPTY;
 		}
 		else if (!hasLength(pathContainer)) {
-			return PathMatchInfo.EMPTY;
-		}
-		else {
-			throw new IllegalStateException(
-					"Pattern \"" + this + "\" is not a match for \"" + pathContainer.value() + "\"");
+			if (this.head instanceof WildcardTheRestPathElement || this.head instanceof CaptureTheRestPathElement) {
+				pathContainer = EMPTY_PATH; // Will allow CaptureTheRest to bind the variable to empty
+			}
+			else {
+				return null;
+			}
 		}
+		MatchingContext matchingContext = new MatchingContext(pathContainer, true);
+		return this.head.matches(0, matchingContext) ? matchingContext.getPathMatchResult() : null;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/util/pattern/PathPatternTests.java b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/util/pattern/PathPatternTests.java
index 181bea804b..0ff812d1cb 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/util/pattern/PathPatternTests.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/util/pattern/PathPatternTests.java
@@ -768,20 +768,10 @@ public class PathPatternTests {
 		checkCapture("/{page}.*", "/42.html", "page", "42");
 		checkCapture("/A-{B}-C", "/A-b-C", "B", "b");
 		checkCapture("/{name}.{extension}", "/test.html", "name", "test", "extension", "html");
-		try {
-			checkCapture("/{one}/", "//", "one", "");
-			fail("Expected exception");
-		}
-		catch (IllegalStateException e) {
-			assertEquals("Pattern \"/{one}/\" is not a match for \"//\"", e.getMessage());
-		}
-		try {
-			checkCapture("", "/abc");
-			fail("Expected exception");
-		}
-		catch (IllegalStateException e) {
-			assertEquals("Pattern \"\" is not a match for \"/abc\"", e.getMessage());
-		}
+
+		assertNull(checkCapture("/{one}/", "//"));
+		assertNull(checkCapture("", "/abc"));
+
 		assertEquals(0, checkCapture("", "").getUriVariables().size());
 		checkCapture("{id}", "99", "id", "99");
 		checkCapture("/customer/{customerId}", "/customer/78", "customerId", "78");
diff --git a/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/RequestPredicates.java b/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/RequestPredicates.java
index dbf210ad24..108b1b6a34 100644
--- a/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/RequestPredicates.java
+++ b/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/RequestPredicates.java
@@ -343,10 +343,10 @@ public abstract class RequestPredicates {
 		@Override
 		public boolean test(ServerRequest request) {
 			PathContainer pathContainer = request.pathContainer();
-			boolean match = this.pattern.matches(pathContainer);
-			traceMatch("Pattern", this.pattern.getPatternString(), request.path(), match);
-			if (match) {
-				mergeTemplateVariables(request, this.pattern.matchAndExtract(pathContainer).getUriVariables());
+			PathPattern.PathMatchInfo info = this.pattern.matchAndExtract(pathContainer);
+			traceMatch("Pattern", this.pattern.getPatternString(), request.path(), info != null);
+			if (info != null) {
+				mergeTemplateVariables(request, info.getUriVariables());
 				return true;
 			}
 			else {