diff --git a/lib/server.js b/lib/server.js
index fc728c383e..53cc60379f 100644
--- a/lib/server.js
+++ b/lib/server.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 const http = require('http')
 const connect = require('connect')
+const path = require('path')
 
 class Server {
   constructor (nuxt) {
@@ -11,17 +12,31 @@ class Server {
     this.server = http.createServer(this.app)
     // Add Middleware
     this.nuxt.options.serverMiddleware.forEach(m => {
-      if (m instanceof Function) {
-        this.app.use(m)
-      } else if (m && m.path && m.handler) {
-        this.app.use(m.path, m.handler)
-      }
+      this.useMiddleware(m)
     })
     // Add default render middleware
-    this.app.use(this.render.bind(this))
+    this.useMiddleware(this.render.bind(this))
     return this
   }
 
+  useMiddleware (m) {
+    // Require if needed
+    if (typeof m === 'string') {
+      let src = m
+      // Using ~ shorthand to resolve from project srcDir
+      if (src.indexOf('~') === 0) {
+        src = path.resolve(this.nuxt.options.srcDir, src.substr(1))
+      }
+      // eslint-disable-next-line no-eval
+      m = eval('require')(src)
+    }
+    if (m instanceof Function) {
+      this.app.use(m)
+    } else if (m && m.path && m.handler) {
+      this.app.use(m.path, m.handler)
+    }
+  }
+
   render (req, res, next) {
     this.nuxt.render(req, res)
     return this