diff --git a/R/middleware.R b/R/middleware.R
index 0a5a563..f71f940 100644
--- a/R/middleware.R
+++ b/R/middleware.R
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ middleware <- function(engine) {
             # the dummy path is needed for pinging the server from hotwater
             plumber::pr_get(
                 "/__hotwater__", function() "running",
-                serializer = plumber::serializer_text()
+                serializer = plumber::serializer_text(),
+                preempt = "__first__"
             ) |>
             plumber::pr_hook("postserialize", postserialise_hotwater(js))
     }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-middleware.R b/tests/testthat/test-middleware.R
index 8d89f29..d0bd2f9 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-middleware.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-middleware.R
@@ -16,6 +16,42 @@ test_that("middleware injection works", {
     )
 })
 
+test_that("middleware injection works with filters", {
+    engine <- new_engine(
+        path = system.file("examples", "plumber.R", package = "hotwater"),
+        port = httpuv::randomPort(),
+        dirs = NULL,
+        host = NULL,
+        ignore = NULL
+    )
+    runner <- callr::r_bg(
+        function(port, middleware) {
+            plumber::pr(system.file("examples", "plumber.R", package = "hotwater")) |>
+                plumber::pr_filter("foo", function(req, res) {
+                    stop("I break things")
+                }) |>
+                middleware() |>
+                plumber::pr_run(port = port)
+        },
+        args = list(
+            port = engine$config$port,
+            middleware = middleware(engine)
+        )
+    )
+
+    i <- 1L
+    while (i < 20L && !is_plumber_running(engine)) {
+        i <- i + 1L
+        Sys.sleep(0.5)
+    }
+
+   resp <- httr2::request(sprintf("localhost:%s/__hotwater__", engine$config$port)) |>
+        httr2::req_perform() |>
+        httr2::resp_status()
+
+    expect_identical(resp, 200L)
+})
+
 test_that("is_plumber_running works", {
     dummy_engine <- list(
         config = list(
@@ -28,8 +64,9 @@ test_that("is_plumber_running works", {
                 system.file("examples", "plumber.R", package = "hotwater")
             ) |>
                 plumber::pr_get(
-                "/__hotwater__", function() "running",
-                serializer = plumber::serializer_text()
+                    "/__hotwater__",
+                    function() "running",
+                    serializer = plumber::serializer_text()
                 ) |>
                 plumber::pr_run(port = port)
         },
@@ -55,7 +92,6 @@ test_that("autoreloader is attached", {
         host = NULL,
         ignore = NULL
     )
-    middleware_filter <- middleware(engine)
     new_runner(engine)
     resp <- httr2::request(sprintf("localhost:%s", engine$config$port)) |>
         httr2::req_perform() |>