diff --git a/src/regex/regcomp.c b/src/regex/regcomp.c
index c72f7d635fe04d6937446dba64722b23a55aac59..ea6e6a6942ab7a7d9af5871153b1f8003233cfe6 100644
--- a/src/regex/regcomp.c
+++ b/src/regex/regcomp.c
@@ -1210,7 +1210,7 @@ tre_parse(tre_parse_ctx_t *ctx)
 		  }
 	      }
 
-	      if (!*ctx->re)
+	      if (!ctx->re[1])
 		/* Trailing backslash. */
 		return REG_EESCAPE;