diff --git a/rust/lance-namespace-impls/Cargo.toml b/rust/lance-namespace-impls/Cargo.toml
index a91ae937671..9ce32692ffc 100644
--- a/rust/lance-namespace-impls/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rust/lance-namespace-impls/Cargo.toml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ arrow-schema = { workspace = true }
 # REST adapter implementation dependencies (optional, enabled by "rest-adapter" feature)
 axum = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 tower = { workspace = true, optional = true }
-tower-http = { workspace = true, optional = true, features = ["trace", "cors"] }
+tower-http = { workspace = true, optional = true, features = ["trace", "cors", "normalize-path"] }
 serde = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 
 # Common dependencies
diff --git a/rust/lance-namespace-impls/src/rest_adapter.rs b/rust/lance-namespace-impls/src/rest_adapter.rs
index dd94b15e7c4..284b0d42fa9 100644
--- a/rust/lance-namespace-impls/src/rest_adapter.rs
+++ b/rust/lance-namespace-impls/src/rest_adapter.rs
@@ -11,14 +11,16 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use axum::{
     body::Bytes,
-    extract::{Path, Query, State},
+    extract::{Path, Query, Request, State},
     http::StatusCode,
     response::{IntoResponse, Response},
     routing::{get, post},
-    Json, Router,
+    Json, Router, ServiceExt,
 };
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use tokio::sync::watch;
+use tower::Layer;
+use tower_http::normalize_path::NormalizePathLayer;
 use tower_http::trace::TraceLayer;
 
 use lance_core::{Error, Result};
@@ -154,9 +156,10 @@ impl RestAdapter {
         let (shutdown_tx, mut shutdown_rx) = watch::channel(false);
         let (done_tx, done_rx) = tokio::sync::oneshot::channel::<()>();
         let router = self.router();
+        let app = NormalizePathLayer::trim_trailing_slash().layer(router);
 
         tokio::spawn(async move {
-            let result = axum::serve(listener, router)
+            let result = axum::serve(listener, ServiceExt::<Request>::into_make_service(app))
                 .with_graceful_shutdown(async move {
                     let _ = shutdown_rx.changed().await;
                 })
@@ -1168,6 +1171,60 @@ mod tests {
             Bytes::from(buffer)
         }
 
+        #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 2)]
+        async fn test_trailing_slash_handling() {
+            let fixture = RestServerFixture::new().await;
+            let port = fixture.server_handle.port();
+
+            // Create a namespace using the normal API (without trailing slash)
+            let create_req = CreateNamespaceRequest {
+                id: Some(vec!["test_namespace".to_string()]),
+                properties: None,
+                mode: None,
+            };
+            fixture
+                .namespace
+                .create_namespace(create_req)
+                .await
+                .unwrap();
+
+            // Test that a request with trailing slash works (using direct HTTP)
+            let client = reqwest::Client::new();
+
+            // Test POST endpoint with trailing slash
+            let response = client
+                .post(format!(
+                    "http://127.0.0.1:{}/v1/namespace/test_namespace/exists/",
+                    port
+                ))
+                .json(&serde_json::json!({}))
+                .send()
+                .await
+                .unwrap();
+
+            assert_eq!(
+                response.status(),
+                204,
+                "POST request with trailing slash should succeed with 204 No Content"
+            );
+
+            // Test GET endpoint with trailing slash
+            let response = client
+                .get(format!(
+                    "http://127.0.0.1:{}/v1/namespace/test_namespace/list/",
+                    port
+                ))
+                .send()
+                .await
+                .unwrap();
+
+            assert!(
+                response.status().is_success(),
+                "GET request with trailing slash should succeed, got status: {}",
+                response.status()
+            );
+        }
+
         #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 2)]
         async fn test_create_and_list_child_namespaces() {
             let fixture = RestServerFixture::new().await;