diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/AreaRegistrationExtensions.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/AreaRegistrationExtensions.cs
index cb905c3569..b67d73880e 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/AreaRegistrationExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/AreaRegistrationExtensions.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Web.Http;
 using System.Web.Mvc;
 using System.Web.Routing;
 using Umbraco.Core;
@@ -8,73 +9,96 @@ using Umbraco.Core.Configuration;
 namespace Umbraco.Web.Mvc
 {
     internal static class AreaRegistrationExtensions
-	{
-	    /// <summary>
-	    /// Creates a custom individual route for the specified controller plugin. Individual routes
-	    /// are required by controller plugins to map to a unique URL based on ID.
-	    /// </summary>
-	    /// <param name="controllerName"></param>
-	    /// <param name="controllerType"></param>
-	    /// <param name="routes">An existing route collection</param>
-	    /// <param name="controllerSuffixName">
-	    /// The suffix name that the controller name must end in before the "Controller" string for example:
-	    /// ContentTreeController has a controllerSuffixName of "Tree", this is used for route constraints.
-	    /// </param>
-	    /// <param name="defaultAction"></param>
-	    /// <param name="defaultId"></param>
-	    /// <param name="area"></param>
-	    /// <param name="umbracoTokenValue">The DataToken value to set for the 'umbraco' key, this defaults to 'backoffice' </param>
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Creates a custom individual route for the specified controller plugin. Individual routes
+        /// are required by controller plugins to map to a unique URL based on ID.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="controllerName"></param>
+        /// <param name="controllerType"></param>
+        /// <param name="routes">An existing route collection</param>
+        /// <param name="controllerSuffixName">
+        /// The suffix name that the controller name must end in before the "Controller" string for example:
+        /// ContentTreeController has a controllerSuffixName of "Tree", this is used for route constraints.
+        /// </param>
+        /// <param name="defaultAction"></param>
+        /// <param name="defaultId"></param>
+        /// <param name="area"></param>
+        /// <param name="umbracoTokenValue">The DataToken value to set for the 'umbraco' key, this defaults to 'backoffice' </param>
         /// <param name="routeTokens">By default this value is just {action}/{id} but can be modified for things like web api routes</param>
-	    /// <remarks>
-	    /// </remarks>
-	    internal static Route RouteControllerPlugin(this AreaRegistration area, string controllerName, Type controllerType, RouteCollection routes,
-		                                           string controllerSuffixName, string defaultAction, object defaultId,
-		                                           string umbracoTokenValue = "backoffice",
-                                                    string routeTokens = "{action}/{id}")
-		{
-			Mandate.ParameterNotNullOrEmpty(controllerName, "controllerName");
-			Mandate.ParameterNotNullOrEmpty(controllerSuffixName, "controllerSuffixName");
-			Mandate.ParameterNotNullOrEmpty(defaultAction, "defaultAction");
-			Mandate.ParameterNotNull(controllerType, "controllerType");
-			Mandate.ParameterNotNull(routes, "routes");
-			Mandate.ParameterNotNull(defaultId, "defaultId");
+        /// <param name="isMvc">Default is true for MVC, otherwise false for WebAPI</param>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// </remarks>
+        internal static Route RouteControllerPlugin(this AreaRegistration area, string controllerName, Type controllerType, RouteCollection routes,
+                                                    string controllerSuffixName, string defaultAction, object defaultId,
+                                                    string umbracoTokenValue = "backoffice",
+                                                    string routeTokens = "{action}/{id}",
+                                                    bool isMvc = true)
+        {
+            Mandate.ParameterNotNullOrEmpty(controllerName, "controllerName");
+            Mandate.ParameterNotNullOrEmpty(controllerSuffixName, "controllerSuffixName");
+            
+            Mandate.ParameterNotNull(controllerType, "controllerType");
+            Mandate.ParameterNotNull(routes, "routes");
+            Mandate.ParameterNotNull(defaultId, "defaultId");
 
-			var umbracoArea = GlobalSettings.UmbracoMvcArea;
+            var umbracoArea = GlobalSettings.UmbracoMvcArea;
 
-			//routes are explicitly name with controller names and IDs
-            var url = umbracoArea + "/" + area.AreaName + "/" + controllerName + "/" + routeTokens; 
+            //routes are explicitly name with controller names and IDs
+            var url = umbracoArea + "/" + area.AreaName + "/" + controllerName + "/" + routeTokens;
 
-			//create a new route with custom name, specified url, and the namespace of the controller plugin
-			var controllerPluginRoute = routes.MapRoute(
-				//name
-				string.Format("umbraco-{0}", controllerType.FullName),
-				//url format
-				url,
-				//set the namespace of the controller to match
-				new[] { controllerType.Namespace });
-			
-			//set defaults
-			controllerPluginRoute.Defaults = new RouteValueDictionary(
-				new Dictionary<string, object>
-					{
-						{ "controller", controllerName },
-						{ "action", defaultAction },
-						{ "id", defaultId }    
-					});
+            Route controllerPluginRoute;
+            //var meta = PluginController.GetMetadata(controllerType);
+            if (isMvc)
+            {
+                //create a new route with custom name, specified url, and the namespace of the controller plugin
+                controllerPluginRoute = routes.MapRoute(
+                    //name
+                    string.Format("umbraco-{0}", controllerType.FullName),
+                    //url format
+                    url,
+                    //set the namespace of the controller to match
+                    new[] {controllerType.Namespace});
 
-			//constraints: only match controllers ending with 'controllerSuffixName' and only match this controller's ID for this route            
-			controllerPluginRoute.Constraints = new RouteValueDictionary(
-				new Dictionary<string, object>
-					{
-						{ "controller", @"(\w+)" + controllerSuffixName }
-					});
-			
-			
-			//match this area
-			controllerPluginRoute.DataTokens.Add("area", area.AreaName);
-			controllerPluginRoute.DataTokens.Add("umbraco", umbracoTokenValue); //ensure the umbraco token is set
+                //set defaults
+                controllerPluginRoute.Defaults = new RouteValueDictionary(
+                    new Dictionary<string, object>
+                    {
+                        {"controller", controllerName},
+                        {"action", defaultAction},
+                        {"id", defaultId}
+                    });
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                controllerPluginRoute = routes.MapHttpRoute(
+                    //name
+                    string.Format("umbraco-{0}-{1}", "api", controllerType.FullName),
+                    //url format
+                    url,
+                    new { controller = controllerName, id = defaultId });
+                //web api routes don't set the data tokens object
+                if (controllerPluginRoute.DataTokens == null)
+                {
+                    controllerPluginRoute.DataTokens = new RouteValueDictionary();
+                }
+                //look in this namespace to create the controller
+                controllerPluginRoute.DataTokens.Add("Namespaces", controllerType.Namespace); 
+            }
 
-		    return controllerPluginRoute;
-		}
-	}
+            //constraints: only match controllers ending with 'controllerSuffixName' and only match this controller's ID for this route            
+            controllerPluginRoute.Constraints = new RouteValueDictionary(
+                new Dictionary<string, object>
+                    {
+                        {"controller", @"(\w+)" + controllerSuffixName}
+                    });
+
+
+            //match this area
+            controllerPluginRoute.DataTokens.Add("area", area.AreaName);
+            controllerPluginRoute.DataTokens.Add("umbraco", umbracoTokenValue); //ensure the umbraco token is set
+
+            return controllerPluginRoute;
+        }
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ControllerExtensions.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ControllerExtensions.cs
index 0e383add83..d17b1f2afe 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ControllerExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/ControllerExtensions.cs
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Mvc
         /// <returns></returns>
 		internal static string GetControllerName(Type controllerType)
         {
+            if (!controllerType.Name.EndsWith("Controller"))
+            {
+                throw new InvalidOperationException("The controller type " + controllerType + " does not follow conventions, MVC Controller class names must be suffixed with the term 'Controller'");
+            }
             return controllerType.Name.Substring(0, controllerType.Name.LastIndexOf("Controller"));
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/PluginControllerArea.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/PluginControllerArea.cs
index 25472a2ffa..0e34e2cdef 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/PluginControllerArea.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/PluginControllerArea.cs
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Mvc
         {
             foreach (var s in apiControllers)
             {
-                this.RouteControllerPlugin(s.ControllerName, s.ControllerType, routes, "Api", "Index", UrlParameter.Optional, "api");
+                this.RouteControllerPlugin(s.ControllerName, s.ControllerType, routes, "Api", "", UrlParameter.Optional, "api", isMvc: false);
             }
         }
 	}