diff --git a/jsonpointer.py b/jsonpointer.py
index 3e97add..41d580c 100644
--- a/jsonpointer.py
+++ b/jsonpointer.py
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ class JsonPointer(object):
 
     # Array indices must not contain:
     # leading zeros, signs, spaces, decimals, etc
-    _RE_ARRAY_INDEX = re.compile('0|[1-9][0-9]*$')
+    _RE_ARRAY_INDEX = re.compile('^(?:0|[1-9][0-9]*)$')
     _RE_INVALID_ESCAPE = re.compile('(~[^01]|~$)')
 
     def __init__(self, pointer):
diff --git a/tests.py b/tests.py
index 7b1cdac..b4251fe 100755
--- a/tests.py
+++ b/tests.py
@@ -220,6 +220,13 @@ def test_invalid_index(self):
         doc = [0, 1, 2]
         self.assertRaises(JsonPointerException, resolve_pointer, doc, '/a')
 
+    def test_invalid_index_leading_zeros(self):
+        # RFC 6901 specifies that array indices must not have leading zeros
+        doc = [0, 1, 2]
+        self.assertRaises(JsonPointerException, resolve_pointer, doc, '/01')
+        self.assertRaises(JsonPointerException, resolve_pointer, doc, '/00')
+        self.assertRaises(JsonPointerException, resolve_pointer, doc, '/001')
+
     def test_oob(self):
         # this list does not have 10 members
         doc = [0, 1, 2]