diff --git a/discovery/consul/consul.go b/discovery/consul/consul.go
index 00290fa0dd..7d45147123 100644
--- a/discovery/consul/consul.go
+++ b/discovery/consul/consul.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package consul
 
 import (
-	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"path"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ func init() {
 func (s *ConsulDiscoveryService) Initialize(uris string, heartbeat int) error {
 	parts := strings.SplitN(uris, "/", 2)
 	if len(parts) < 2 {
-		return errors.New("missing consul prefix")
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid format %q, missing <path>", uris)
 	}
 	addr := parts[0]
 	path := parts[1]
diff --git a/discovery/consul/consul_test.go b/discovery/consul/consul_test.go
index 79bf873bdf..9a2ff1b3c0 100644
--- a/discovery/consul/consul_test.go
+++ b/discovery/consul/consul_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,13 @@ import (
 
 func TestInitialize(t *testing.T) {
 	discovery := &ConsulDiscoveryService{}
-	discovery.Initialize("127.0.0.1:8500/path", 0)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, discovery.Initialize("127.0.0.1", 0).Error(), "invalid format \"127.0.0.1\", missing <path>")
+
+	assert.Error(t, discovery.Initialize("127.0.0.1/path", 0))
 	assert.Equal(t, discovery.prefix, "path/")
+
+	assert.Error(t, discovery.Initialize("127.0.0.1,127.0.0.2,127.0.0.3/path", 0))
+	assert.Equal(t, discovery.prefix, "path/")
+
 }
diff --git a/discovery/etcd/etcd.go b/discovery/etcd/etcd.go
index 9e4efe4d0c..91641498d1 100644
--- a/discovery/etcd/etcd.go
+++ b/discovery/etcd/etcd.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package etcd
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"path"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -27,6 +28,11 @@ func (s *EtcdDiscoveryService) Initialize(uris string, heartbeat int) error {
 		ips      = strings.Split(parts[0], ",")
 		machines []string
 	)
+
+	if len(parts) != 2 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid format %q, missing <path>", uris)
+	}
+
 	for _, ip := range ips {
 		machines = append(machines, "http://"+ip)
 	}
diff --git a/discovery/etcd/etcd_test.go b/discovery/etcd/etcd_test.go
index 2088890a63..3070e13e9c 100644
--- a/discovery/etcd/etcd_test.go
+++ b/discovery/etcd/etcd_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ import (
 
 func TestInitialize(t *testing.T) {
 	discovery := &EtcdDiscoveryService{}
+
+	assert.Equal(t, discovery.Initialize("127.0.0.1", 0).Error(), "invalid format \"127.0.0.1\", missing <path>")
+
 	assert.Error(t, discovery.Initialize("127.0.0.1/path", 0))
 	assert.Equal(t, discovery.path, "/path/")
 
diff --git a/discovery/zookeeper/zookeeper.go b/discovery/zookeeper/zookeeper.go
index d133d9c227..8c990520af 100644
--- a/discovery/zookeeper/zookeeper.go
+++ b/discovery/zookeeper/zookeeper.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package zookeeper
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"path"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -28,6 +29,10 @@ func (s *ZkDiscoveryService) Initialize(uris string, heartbeat int) error {
 		ips   = strings.Split(parts[0], ",")
 	)
 
+	if len(parts) != 2 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid format %q, missing <path>", uris)
+	}
+
 	conn, _, err := zk.Connect(ips, time.Second)
 
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/discovery/zookeeper/zookeeper_test.go b/discovery/zookeeper/zookeeper_test.go
index 221d3a57f7..c07a879aaa 100644
--- a/discovery/zookeeper/zookeeper_test.go
+++ b/discovery/zookeeper/zookeeper_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ import (
 
 func TestInitialize(t *testing.T) {
 	service := &ZkDiscoveryService{}
+
+	assert.Equal(t, service.Initialize("127.0.0.1", 0).Error(), "invalid format \"127.0.0.1\", missing <path>")
+
 	assert.Error(t, service.Initialize("127.0.0.1/path", 0))
 	assert.Equal(t, service.path, "/path")