diff --git a/src/http/modules/perl/ngx_http_perl_module.c b/src/http/modules/perl/ngx_http_perl_module.c
index 634801ece..41372ce2d 100644
--- a/src/http/modules/perl/ngx_http_perl_module.c
+++ b/src/http/modules/perl/ngx_http_perl_module.c
@@ -761,7 +761,10 @@ ngx_http_perl_eval_anon_sub(pTHX_ ngx_str_t *handler, SV **sv)
         }
     }
 
-    if (ngx_strncmp(p, "sub ", 4) == 0 || ngx_strncmp(p, "use ", 4) == 0) {
+    if (ngx_strncmp(p, "sub ", 4) == 0
+        || ngx_strncmp(p, "sub{", 4) == 0
+        || ngx_strncmp(p, "use ", 4) == 0)
+    {
         *sv = eval_pv((char *) p, FALSE);
 
         /* eval_pv() does not set ERRSV on failure */