Your problem is not due to mod_rewrite. It is most probably an access control problem. I "almost" managed to reproduce it by adding the following lines to my test config: ErrorDocument 403 /docs/FORBIDDEN <Proxy *> Deny from all </Proxy> What troubles me a little bit is that I do see the rewrite log message "go-ahead with proxy request" in my logs, whereas it does not appear in yours... On the other hand you may have edited the logs you posted. 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#238ec8/initial] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /docs/123456 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#238ec8/initial] (3) applying pattern '^/docs/?$' to uri '/docs/123456' 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#238ec8/initial] (3) applying pattern '^/docs/index' to uri '/docs/123456' 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#238ec8/initial] (3) applying pattern '^/docs/sitemap' to uri '/docs/123456' 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#238ec8/initial] (3) applying pattern '^/docsum' to uri '/docs/123456' 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#238ec8/initial] (3) applying pattern '^/docs/([0-9]{6})$' to uri '/docs/123456' 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#238ec8/initial] (2) rewrite /docs/123456 -> http://db.jhuccp.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fdb.jhuccp.org%2Fdbtw-wpd%2Fexec%2Fdbtwpcgi.exe&QF0=DocNo%&QI0=123456&TN=Popline&AC=QBE_QUERY&MR=30%DL=1&&RL=1&&RF=LongRecordDisplay&DF=LongRecordDisplay 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#238ec8/initial] (3) split uri=http://db.jhuccp.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fdb.jhuccp.org%2Fdbtw-wpd%2Fexec%2Fdbtwpcgi.exe&QF0=DocNo%&QI0=123456&TN=Popline&AC=QBE_QUERY&MR=30%DL=1&&RL=1&&RF=LongRecordDisplay&DF=LongRecordDisplay -> uri=http://db.jhuccp.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe, args=BU=http%3A%2F%2Fdb.jhuccp.org%2Fdbtw-wpd%2Fexec%2Fdbtwpcgi.exe&QF0=DocNo%&QI0=123456&TN=Popline&AC=QBE_QUERY&MR=30%DL=1&&RL=1&&RF=LongRecordDisplay&DF=LongRecordDisplay 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#238ec8/initial] (2) forcing proxy-throughput with http://db.jhuccp.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#238ec8/initial] (1) go-ahead with proxy request proxy:http://db.jhuccp.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe [OK] 150.175.32.163 - - [25/Aug/2005:10:06:37 +0200] [labelle16.foo.bar/sid#16d060][rid#23a680/initial/redir#1] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /docs/FORBIDDEN [...] I also simplified the rewrite rules a little bit, and un-escaped the proxy URL (to the best of my ability) RewriteRule ^/docs/?$ /docs/index.html RewriteRule ^/docs/index - [L] #If this matches, don't do any rewriting RewriteRule ^/docs/sitemap - [L] #If this matches, don't do any rewriting. For Google sitemap program RewriteRule ^/docsum - [L] #If this matches, don't do any rewriting RewriteRule ^/docs/([0-9]{6})$ http://db.jhuccp.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe?BU=http://db.jhuccp.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe&QF0=DocNo%&QI0=$1&TN=Popline&AC=QBE_QUERY&MR=30%DL=1&&RL=1&&RF=LongRecordDisplay&DF=LongRecordDisplay [P] RewriteRule ^/docs/[0-9]{4} - [L] #If this matches, don't do any rewriting RewriteRule .* http://db.jhuccp.org/popinform/basic.html [R,L] -ascs --------------------------------------------------------------------- The official User-To-User support forum of the Apache HTTP Server Project. See <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/userslist.html> for more info. To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx " from the digest: users-digest-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx