diff --git a/.changeset/path-matcher-segment-wildcard.md b/.changeset/path-matcher-segment-wildcard.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7ad08ff33cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/path-matcher-segment-wildcard.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@clerk/shared': patch
+---
+
+`createRouteMatcher()` route suggestions now use the `:path*` subtree form (e.g. `/dashboard/:path*`) instead of `(.*)`. Unlike `/dashboard(.*)`, which also matches sibling routes such as `/dashboardxyz`, `/dashboard/:path*` matches only `/dashboard` and its path-segment subtree. Existing `(.*)` patterns keep working; this only changes the type-level autocomplete suggestion.
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/pathMatcher.ts b/packages/shared/src/pathMatcher.ts
index d5e6e49f516..4ee5ccf42fc 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/pathMatcher.ts
+++ b/packages/shared/src/pathMatcher.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 import { pathToRegexp } from './pathToRegexp';
 import type { Autocomplete } from './types';
 
-export type WithPathPatternWildcard<T = string> = `${T & string}(.*)`;
+// Suggests the `:path*` subtree form (e.g. `/dashboard/:path*`), which matches on
+// path-segment boundaries. `/` is special-cased to `/:path*` to avoid a malformed `//:path*`.
+export type WithPathPatternWildcard<T = string> = T extends '/' ? '/:path*' : `${T & string}/:path*`;
 export type PathPattern = Autocomplete<WithPathPatternWildcard>;
 export type PathMatcherParam = Array<RegExp | PathPattern> | RegExp | PathPattern;