diff --git a/basis/regexp/combinators/combinators-tests.factor b/basis/regexp/combinators/combinators-tests.factor
index 6690440345..ddfd0dcaad 100644
--- a/basis/regexp/combinators/combinators-tests.factor
+++ b/basis/regexp/combinators/combinators-tests.factor
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ! Copyright (C) 2009 Daniel Ehrenberg
 ! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
-USING: regexp.combinators tools.test regexp kernel sequences regexp.matchers ;
+USING: regexp.combinators tools.test regexp kernel sequences ;
 IN: regexp.combinators.tests
 
 : strings ( -- regexp )
diff --git a/basis/regexp/compiler/compiler.factor b/basis/regexp/compiler/compiler.factor
index eedf05a81e..0e0c0eaae6 100644
--- a/basis/regexp/compiler/compiler.factor
+++ b/basis/regexp/compiler/compiler.factor
@@ -1,19 +1,19 @@
 ! Copyright (C) 2009 Daniel Ehrenberg.
 ! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
 USING: regexp.classes kernel sequences regexp.negation
-quotations regexp.minimize assocs fry math locals combinators
+quotations assocs fry math locals combinators
 accessors words compiler.units kernel.private strings
-sequences.private arrays regexp.matchers call namespaces
+sequences.private arrays call namespaces
 regexp.transition-tables combinators.short-circuit ;
 IN: regexp.compiler
 
 GENERIC: question>quot ( question -- quot )
 
-<PRIVATE
-
 SYMBOL: shortest?
 SYMBOL: backwards?
 
+<PRIVATE
+
 M: t question>quot drop [ 2drop t ] ;
 
 M: beginning-of-input question>quot
@@ -122,34 +122,23 @@ C: <box> box
     [ values ]
     bi swap ; 
 
-: dfa>word ( dfa -- word )
+: dfa>main-word ( dfa -- word )
     states>words [ states>code ] keep start-state>> ;
 
-: check-string ( string -- string )
-    ! Make this configurable
-    dup string? [ "String required" throw ] unless ;
-
-: setup-regexp ( start-index string -- f start-index string )
-    [ f ] [ >fixnum ] [ check-string ] tri* ; inline
-
 PRIVATE>
 
-! The quotation returned is ( start-index string -- i/f )
+: simple-define-temp ( quot effect -- word )
+    [ [ define-temp ] with-compilation-unit ] call( quot effect -- word ) ;
 
-: dfa>quotation ( dfa -- quot )
-    dfa>word execution-quot '[ setup-regexp @ ] ;
+: dfa>word ( dfa -- quot )
+    dfa>main-word execution-quot '[ drop [ f ] 2dip @ ]
+    (( start-index string regexp -- i/f )) simple-define-temp ;
 
-: dfa>shortest-quotation ( dfa -- quot )
-    t shortest? [ dfa>quotation ] with-variable ;
+: dfa>shortest-word ( dfa -- word )
+    t shortest? [ dfa>word ] with-variable ;
 
-: dfa>reverse-quotation ( dfa -- quot )
-    t backwards? [ dfa>quotation ] with-variable ;
+: dfa>reverse-word ( dfa -- word )
+    t backwards? [ dfa>word ] with-variable ;
 
-: dfa>reverse-shortest-quotation ( dfa -- quot )
-    t backwards? [ dfa>shortest-quotation ] with-variable ;
-
-TUPLE: quot-matcher quot ;
-C: <quot-matcher> quot-matcher
-
-M: quot-matcher match-index-from
-    quot>> call( index string -- i/f ) ;
+: dfa>reverse-shortest-word ( dfa -- word )
+    t backwards? [ dfa>shortest-word ] with-variable ;
diff --git a/basis/regexp/negation/negation.factor b/basis/regexp/negation/negation.factor
index 0633dca192..8b0a2f6edf 100644
--- a/basis/regexp/negation/negation.factor
+++ b/basis/regexp/negation/negation.factor
@@ -6,9 +6,6 @@ regexp.ast regexp.transition-tables regexp.minimize
 regexp.dfa namespaces ;
 IN: regexp.negation
 
-: ast>dfa ( parse-tree -- minimal-dfa )
-    construct-nfa disambiguate construct-dfa minimize ;
-
 CONSTANT: fail-state -1
 
 : add-default-transition ( state's-transitions -- new-state's-transitions )
@@ -49,5 +46,8 @@ CONSTANT: fail-state -1
     [ final-states>> keys first ]
     [ nfa-table get [ transitions>> ] bi@ swap update ] tri ;
 
+: ast>dfa ( parse-tree -- minimal-dfa )
+    construct-nfa disambiguate construct-dfa minimize ;
+
 M: negation nfa-node ( node -- start end )
     term>> ast>dfa negate-table adjoin-dfa ;
diff --git a/basis/regexp/regexp-docs.factor b/basis/regexp/regexp-docs.factor
index d77abe877e..ce4a54df87 100644
--- a/basis/regexp/regexp-docs.factor
+++ b/basis/regexp/regexp-docs.factor
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ! Copyright (C) 2008, 2009 Doug Coleman, Daniel Ehrenberg.
 ! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
-USING: kernel strings help.markup help.syntax regexp.matchers math ;
+USING: kernel strings help.markup help.syntax math ;
 IN: regexp
 
 ABOUT: "regexp"
diff --git a/basis/regexp/regexp-tests.factor b/basis/regexp/regexp-tests.factor
index 99cb8dbd22..fa907011fd 100644
--- a/basis/regexp/regexp-tests.factor
+++ b/basis/regexp/regexp-tests.factor
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ! Copyright (C) 2008, 2009 Doug Coleman, Daniel Ehrenberg
 ! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
 USING: regexp tools.test kernel sequences regexp.parser regexp.private
-eval strings multiline accessors regexp.matchers ;
+eval strings multiline accessors ;
 IN: regexp-tests
 
 \ <regexp> must-infer
@@ -239,11 +239,11 @@ IN: regexp-tests
 [ f ] [ "A" "\\p{Lower}" <regexp> matches? ] unit-test
 [ t ] [ "A" R/ \p{Lower}/i matches? ] unit-test
 
-[ t ] [ "abc" reverse R/ abc/r matches? ] unit-test
-[ t ] [ "abc" reverse R/ a[bB][cC]/r matches? ] unit-test
+[ t ] [ "abc" R/ abc/r matches? ] unit-test
+[ t ] [ "abc" R/ a[bB][cC]/r matches? ] unit-test
 
-[ t ] [ 3 "xabc" R/ abc/ <reverse-matcher> match-index-from >boolean ] unit-test
-[ t ] [ 3 "xabc" R/ a[bB][cC]/ <reverse-matcher> match-index-from >boolean ] unit-test
+[ t ] [ 3 "xabc" R/ abc/r match-index-from >boolean ] unit-test
+[ t ] [ 3 "xabc" R/ a[bB][cC]/r match-index-from >boolean ] unit-test
 
 [ t ] [ "s@f" "[a-z.-]@[a-z]" <regexp> matches? ] unit-test
 [ f ] [ "a" "[a-z.-]@[a-z]" <regexp> matches? ] unit-test
@@ -341,9 +341,19 @@ IN: regexp-tests
 
 [ t ] [ "aaaa" R/ .*a./ matches? ] unit-test
 
+[ f ] [ "ab" R/ (?~ac|\p{Lower}b)/ matches? ] unit-test
+[ f ] [ "ab" R/ (?~ac|[a-z]b)/ matches? ] unit-test
+[ f ] [ "ac" R/ (?~ac|\p{Lower}b)/ matches? ] unit-test
+[ f ] [ "ac" R/ (?~ac|[a-z]b)/ matches? ] unit-test
+[ f ] [ "ac" R/ (?~[a-zA-Z]c|\p{Lower}b)/ matches? ] unit-test
+[ f ] [ "ab" R/ (?~[a-zA-Z]c|\p{Lower}b)/ matches? ] unit-test
+[ f ] [ "πb" R/ (?~[a-zA-Z]c|\p{Lower}b)/ matches? ] unit-test
+[ t ] [ "πc" R/ (?~[a-zA-Z]c|\p{Lower}b)/ matches? ] unit-test
+[ t ] [ "Ab" R/ (?~[a-zA-Z]c|\p{Lower}b)/ matches? ] unit-test
+
 ! DFA is compiled when needed, or when literal
-[ f ] [ "foo" <regexp> dfa>> >boolean ] unit-test
-[ t ] [ R/ foo/ dfa>> >boolean ] unit-test
+[ regexp-initial-word ] [ "foo" <regexp> dfa>> ] unit-test
+[ f ] [ R/ foo/ dfa>> \ regexp-initial-word = ] unit-test
 
 [ t ] [ "a" R/ ^a/ matches? ] unit-test
 [ f ] [ "\na" R/ ^a/ matches? ] unit-test
diff --git a/basis/regexp/regexp.factor b/basis/regexp/regexp.factor
index f938ddf60a..aacd888ccb 100644
--- a/basis/regexp/regexp.factor
+++ b/basis/regexp/regexp.factor
@@ -2,71 +2,162 @@
 ! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
 USING: accessors combinators kernel math sequences strings sets
 assocs prettyprint.backend prettyprint.custom make lexer
-namespaces parser arrays fry locals regexp.minimize
-regexp.parser regexp.nfa regexp.dfa regexp.classes
-regexp.transition-tables splitting sorting regexp.ast
-regexp.negation regexp.matchers regexp.compiler ;
+namespaces parser arrays fry locals regexp.parser splitting
+sorting regexp.ast regexp.negation regexp.compiler words
+call call.private math.ranges ;
 IN: regexp
 
 TUPLE: regexp
     { raw read-only }
     { parse-tree read-only }
     { options read-only }
-    dfa reverse-dfa ;
+    dfa next-match ;
 
-: make-regexp ( string ast -- regexp )
-    f f <options> f f regexp boa ; foldable
-    ! Foldable because, when the dfa slot is set,
-    ! it'll be set to the same thing regardless of who sets it
+TUPLE: reverse-regexp < regexp ;
 
-: <optioned-regexp> ( string options -- regexp )
-    [ dup parse-regexp ] [ string>options ] bi*
-    f f regexp boa ;
+<PRIVATE
 
-: <regexp> ( string -- regexp ) "" <optioned-regexp> ;
+: maybe-negated ( lookaround quot -- regexp-quot )
+    '[ term>> @ ] [ positive?>> [ ] [ not ] ? ] bi compose ; inline
 
-TUPLE: reverse-matcher regexp ;
-C: <reverse-matcher> reverse-matcher
-! Reverse matchers won't work properly with most combinators, for now
+M: lookahead question>quot ! Returns ( index string -- ? )
+    [ ast>dfa dfa>shortest-word '[ f _ execute ] ] maybe-negated ;
+
+: <reversed-option> ( ast -- reversed )
+    "r" string>options <with-options> ;
+
+M: lookbehind question>quot ! Returns ( index string -- ? )
+    [
+        <reversed-option>
+        ast>dfa dfa>reverse-shortest-word
+        '[ [ 1- ] dip f _ execute ]
+    ] maybe-negated ;
+
+<PRIVATE
+
+: check-string ( string -- string )
+    ! Make this configurable
+    dup string? [ "String required" throw ] unless ;
+
+: match-index-from ( i string regexp -- index/f )
+    ! This word is unsafe. It assumes that i is a fixnum
+    ! and that string is a string.
+    dup dfa>> execute( index string regexp -- i/f ) ;
+
+: match-index-head ( string regexp -- index/f )
+    [ 0 ] 2dip [ check-string ] dip match-index-from ;
+
+PRIVATE>
+
+: matches? ( string regexp -- ? )
+    dupd match-index-head
+    [ swap length = ] [ drop f ] if* ;
+
+<PRIVATE
+
+: match-slice ( i string quot -- slice/f )
+    [ 2dup ] dip call
+    [ swap <slice> ] [ 2drop f ] if* ; inline
+
+: match-from ( i string quot -- slice/f )
+    [ [ length [a,b) ] keep ] dip
+    '[ _ _ match-slice ] map-find drop ; inline
+
+: next-match ( i string quot -- i match/f )
+    match-from [ dup [ to>> ] when ] keep ; inline
+
+: do-next-match ( i string regexp -- i match/f )
+    dup next-match>> execute( i string regexp -- i match/f ) ;
+
+PRIVATE>
+
+: all-matches ( string regexp -- seq )
+    [ check-string ] dip
+    [ 0 [ dup ] ] 2dip '[ _ _ do-next-match ] produce
+    nip but-last ;
+
+: count-matches ( string regexp -- n )
+    all-matches length ;
+
+<PRIVATE
+
+:: split-slices ( string slices -- new-slices )
+    slices [ to>> ] map 0 prefix
+    slices [ from>> ] map string length suffix
+    [ string <slice> ] 2map ;
+
+: match-head ( str regexp -- slice/f )
+    [
+        [ 0 ] [ check-string ] [ dup dfa>> '[ _ _ execute ] ] tri*
+        match-from
+    ] call( str regexp -- slice/f ) ;
+
+PRIVATE>
+
+: re-split1 ( string regexp -- before after/f )
+    dupd match-head [ 1array split-slices first2 ] [ f ] if* ;
+
+: re-split ( string regexp -- seq )
+    dupd all-matches split-slices ;
+
+: re-replace ( string regexp replacement -- result )
+    [ re-split ] dip join ;
 
 <PRIVATE
 
 : get-ast ( regexp -- ast )
     [ parse-tree>> ] [ options>> ] bi <with-options> ;
 
-: compile-regexp ( regexp -- regexp )
-    dup '[ [ _ get-ast ast>dfa dfa>quotation ] unless* ] change-dfa ;
+GENERIC: compile-regexp ( regex -- regexp )
 
-: <reversed-option> ( ast -- reversed )
-    "r" string>options <with-options> ;
+: regexp-initial-word ( i string regexp -- i/f )
+    compile-regexp match-index-from ;
 
-: maybe-negated ( lookaround quot -- regexp-quot )
-    '[ term>> @ ] [ positive?>> [ ] [ not ] ? ] bi compose ; inline
-
-M: lookahead question>quot ! Returns ( index string -- ? )
-    [ ast>dfa dfa>shortest-quotation ] maybe-negated ;
-
-M: lookbehind question>quot ! Returns ( index string -- ? )
-    [
-        <reversed-option>
-        ast>dfa dfa>reverse-shortest-quotation
-        [ [ 1- ] dip ] prepose
-    ] maybe-negated ;
-
-: compile-reverse ( regexp -- regexp )
+: do-compile-regexp ( regexp -- regexp )
     dup '[
-        [
-            _ get-ast <reversed-option>
-            ast>dfa dfa>reverse-quotation
-        ] unless*
-    ] change-reverse-dfa ;
+        dup \ regexp-initial-word =
+        [ drop _ get-ast ast>dfa dfa>word ] when
+    ] change-dfa ;
 
-M: regexp match-index-from
-    compile-regexp dfa>> <quot-matcher> match-index-from ;
+M: regexp compile-regexp ( regexp -- regexp )
+    do-compile-regexp ;
 
-M: reverse-matcher match-index-from
-    regexp>> compile-reverse reverse-dfa>>
-    <quot-matcher> match-index-from ;
+M: reverse-regexp compile-regexp ( regexp -- regexp )
+    t backwards? [ do-compile-regexp ] with-variable ;
+
+GENERIC: compile-next-match ( regexp -- regexp )
+
+: next-initial-word ( i string regexp -- i slice/f )
+    compile-next-match do-next-match ;
+
+M: regexp compile-next-match ( regexp -- regexp )
+    dup '[
+        dup \ next-initial-word = [
+            drop _ compile-regexp dfa>>
+            '[ _ '[ _ _ execute ] next-match ]
+            (( i string -- i match/f )) simple-define-temp
+        ] when
+    ] change-next-match ;
+
+! Write M: reverse-regexp compile-next-match
+
+PRIVATE>
+
+: new-regexp ( string ast options class -- regexp )
+    [ \ regexp-initial-word \ next-initial-word ] dip boa ; inline
+
+: make-regexp ( string ast -- regexp )
+    f f <options> regexp new-regexp ;
+
+: <optioned-regexp> ( string options -- regexp )
+    [ dup parse-regexp ] [ string>options ] bi*
+    dup on>> reversed-regexp swap member?
+    [ reverse-regexp new-regexp ]
+    [ regexp new-regexp ] if ;
+
+: <regexp> ( string -- regexp ) "" <optioned-regexp> ;
+
+<PRIVATE
 
 ! The following two should do some caching
 
@@ -97,7 +188,7 @@ M: reverse-matcher match-index-from
 
 : parsing-regexp ( accum end -- accum )
     lexer get [ take-until ] [ parse-noblank-token ] bi
-    <optioned-regexp> compile-regexp parsed ;
+    <optioned-regexp> compile-next-match parsed ;
 
 PRIVATE>
 
@@ -120,3 +211,4 @@ M: regexp pprint*
             [ options>> options>string % ] bi
         ] "" make
     ] keep present-text ;
+