diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7d3c1187..47702ddf 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Breaking changes
 
+- Ensure a `HandleError` service created from `axum::ServiceExt::handle_error`
+  _does not_ implement `RoutingDsl` as that could lead to confusing routing
+  behavior. ([#120](https://github.com/tokio-rs/axum/pull/120))
 - Remove `QueryStringMissing` as it was no longer being used
 - `extract::extractor_middleware::ExtractorMiddlewareResponseFuture` moved
   to `extract::extractor_middleware::future::ResponseFuture` ([#133](https://github.com/tokio-rs/axum/pull/133))
diff --git a/src/handler/mod.rs b/src/handler/mod.rs
index d38edb89..f723df6f 100644
--- a/src/handler/mod.rs
+++ b/src/handler/mod.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use crate::{
     extract::FromRequest,
     response::IntoResponse,
     routing::{future::RouteFuture, EmptyRouter, MethodFilter},
-    service::HandleError,
+    service::{HandleError, HandleErrorFromRouter},
 };
 use async_trait::async_trait;
 use bytes::Bytes;
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ impl<S, T> Layered<S, T> {
     pub fn handle_error<F, ReqBody, ResBody, Res, E>(
         self,
         f: F,
-    ) -> Layered<HandleError<S, F, ReqBody>, T>
+    ) -> Layered<HandleError<S, F, ReqBody, HandleErrorFromRouter>, T>
     where
         S: Service<Request<ReqBody>, Response = Response<ResBody>>,
         F: FnOnce(S::Error) -> Result<Res, E>,
diff --git a/src/routing.rs b/src/routing.rs
index 30f9ccf7..72b6c2e8 100644
--- a/src/routing.rs
+++ b/src/routing.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ use crate::{
     buffer::MpscBuffer,
     extract::connect_info::{Connected, IntoMakeServiceWithConnectInfo},
     response::IntoResponse,
+    service::HandleErrorFromRouter,
     util::ByteStr,
 };
 use async_trait::async_trait;
@@ -716,7 +717,7 @@ impl<S> Layered<S> {
     pub fn handle_error<F, ReqBody, ResBody, Res, E>(
         self,
         f: F,
-    ) -> crate::service::HandleError<S, F, ReqBody>
+    ) -> crate::service::HandleError<S, F, ReqBody, HandleErrorFromRouter>
     where
         S: Service<Request<ReqBody>, Response = Response<ResBody>> + Clone,
         F: FnOnce(S::Error) -> Result<Res, E>,
diff --git a/src/service/mod.rs b/src/service/mod.rs
index 3d6508b6..1012db85 100644
--- a/src/service/mod.rs
+++ b/src/service/mod.rs
@@ -462,13 +462,13 @@ where
 /// [`handler::Layered::handle_error`](crate::handler::Layered::handle_error) or
 /// [`routing::Layered::handle_error`](crate::routing::Layered::handle_error).
 /// See those methods for more details.
-pub struct HandleError<S, F, B> {
+pub struct HandleError<S, F, B, T> {
     inner: S,
     f: F,
-    _marker: PhantomData<fn() -> B>,
+    _marker: PhantomData<fn() -> (B, T)>,
 }
 
-impl<S, F, B> Clone for HandleError<S, F, B>
+impl<S, F, B, T> Clone for HandleError<S, F, B, T>
 where
     S: Clone,
     F: Clone,
@@ -478,11 +478,23 @@ where
     }
 }
 
-impl<S, F, B> crate::routing::RoutingDsl for HandleError<S, F, B> {}
+/// Maker type used for [`HandleError`] to indicate that it should implement
+/// [`RoutingDsl`](crate::routing::RoutingDsl).
+#[non_exhaustive]
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct HandleErrorFromRouter;
 
-impl<S, F, B> crate::sealed::Sealed for HandleError<S, F, B> {}
+/// Maker type used for [`HandleError`] to indicate that it should _not_ implement
+/// [`RoutingDsl`](crate::routing::RoutingDsl).
+#[non_exhaustive]
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct HandleErrorFromService;
 
-impl<S, F, B> HandleError<S, F, B> {
+impl<S, F, B> crate::routing::RoutingDsl for HandleError<S, F, B, HandleErrorFromRouter> {}
+
+impl<S, F, B> crate::sealed::Sealed for HandleError<S, F, B, HandleErrorFromRouter> {}
+
+impl<S, F, B, T> HandleError<S, F, B, T> {
     pub(crate) fn new(inner: S, f: F) -> Self {
         Self {
             inner,
@@ -492,7 +504,7 @@ impl<S, F, B> HandleError<S, F, B> {
     }
 }
 
-impl<S, F, B> fmt::Debug for HandleError<S, F, B>
+impl<S, F, B, T> fmt::Debug for HandleError<S, F, B, T>
 where
     S: fmt::Debug,
 {
@@ -504,7 +516,7 @@ where
     }
 }
 
-impl<S, F, ReqBody, ResBody, Res, E> Service<Request<ReqBody>> for HandleError<S, F, ReqBody>
+impl<S, F, ReqBody, ResBody, Res, E, T> Service<Request<ReqBody>> for HandleError<S, F, ReqBody, T>
 where
     S: Service<Request<ReqBody>, Response = Response<ResBody>> + Clone,
     F: FnOnce(S::Error) -> Result<Res, E> + Clone,
@@ -570,7 +582,7 @@ pub trait ServiceExt<ReqBody, ResBody>:
     /// It works similarly to [`routing::Layered::handle_error`]. See that for more details.
     ///
     /// [`routing::Layered::handle_error`]: crate::routing::Layered::handle_error
-    fn handle_error<F, Res, E>(self, f: F) -> HandleError<Self, F, ReqBody>
+    fn handle_error<F, Res, E>(self, f: F) -> HandleError<Self, F, ReqBody, HandleErrorFromService>
     where
         Self: Sized,
         F: FnOnce(Self::Error) -> Result<Res, E>,
@@ -645,3 +657,21 @@ where
         future::BoxResponseBodyFuture { future: fut }
     }
 }
+
+/// ```compile_fail
+/// use crate::{service::ServiceExt, prelude::*};
+/// use tower::service_fn;
+/// use hyper::Body;
+/// use http::{Request, Response, StatusCode};
+///
+/// let svc = service_fn(|_: Request<Body>| async {
+///     Ok::<_, hyper::Error>(Response::new(Body::empty()))
+/// })
+/// .handle_error::<_, _, hyper::Error>(|_| Ok(StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR));
+///
+/// // `.route` should not compile, ie `HandleError` created from any
+/// // random service should not implement `RoutingDsl`
+/// svc.route::<_, Body>("/", get(|| async {}));
+/// ```
+#[allow(dead_code)]
+fn compile_fail_tests() {}