diff --git a/src/vs/platform/search/common/search.ts b/src/vs/platform/search/common/search.ts
index 885e29f3321ad8789298605ca4c6fda3aad48a86..387525b12d94b6d96deb14ce4b30634bf5ce1f98 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/search/common/search.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/search/common/search.ts
@@ -302,6 +302,7 @@ export class OneLineRange extends SearchRange {
 export interface ISearchConfigurationProperties {
 	exclude: glob.IExpression;
 	useRipgrep: boolean;
+	disableRipgrep: boolean;
 	/**
 	 * Use ignore file for file search.
 	 */
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/common/queryBuilder.ts b/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/common/queryBuilder.ts
index f93e64788840051ed84aa75efb2a4f9d95be9b5c..8913a8cd4ed215cf2223ec1d738bce705ea6163a 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/common/queryBuilder.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/common/queryBuilder.ts
@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ export class QueryBuilder {
 		const searchConfig = this.configurationService.getValue<ISearchConfiguration>();
 		contentPattern.wordSeparators = searchConfig.editor.wordSeparators;
 
+		const fallbackToPCRE = !folderResources || folderResources.some(folder => {
+			const folderConfig = this.configurationService.getValue<ISearchConfiguration>({ resource: folder });
+			return !folderConfig.search.useRipgrep;
+		});
+
 		const commonQuery = this.commonQuery(folderResources, options);
 		return <ITextQuery>{
 			...commonQuery,
@@ -77,7 +82,7 @@ export class QueryBuilder {
 			contentPattern,
 			previewOptions: options && options.previewOptions,
 			maxFileSize: options && options.maxFileSize,
-			usePCRE2: searchConfig.search.usePCRE2
+			usePCRE2: searchConfig.search.usePCRE2 || fallbackToPCRE
 		};
 	}
 
@@ -111,7 +116,7 @@ export class QueryBuilder {
 
 		const useRipgrep = !folderResources || folderResources.every(folder => {
 			const folderConfig = this.configurationService.getValue<ISearchConfiguration>({ resource: folder });
-			return folderConfig.search.useRipgrep;
+			return !folderConfig.search.disableRipgrep;
 		});
 
 		const queryProps: ICommonQueryProps<uri> = {
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/electron-browser/search.contribution.ts b/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/electron-browser/search.contribution.ts
index 4e68c2bc01e4f7ac4cd749124ea49a24808e06a7..aa5d12053e7dbb119f6e69416936c0513c006b49 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/electron-browser/search.contribution.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/electron-browser/search.contribution.ts
@@ -586,9 +586,16 @@ configurationRegistry.registerConfiguration({
 		},
 		'search.useRipgrep': {
 			type: 'boolean',
-			description: nls.localize('useRipgrep', "Controls whether to use ripgrep in text and file search."),
+			description: nls.localize('useRipgrep', "Deprecated. This setting now falls back on \"search.usePCRE2\"."),
+			deprecationMessage: nls.localize('useRipgrepDeprecated', "Deprecated. Consider \"search.usePCRE2\" for advanced regex feature support."),
 			default: true
 		},
+		'search.disableRipgrep': {
+			type: 'boolean',
+			description: nls.localize('disableRipgrep', "Deprecated. Controls whether to use ripgrep in text and file search."),
+			deprecationMessage: nls.localize('disableRipgrepDeprecated', "Deprecated. Consider \"search.usePCRE2\" for advanced regex feature support."),
+			default: false
+		},
 		'search.useIgnoreFiles': {
 			type: 'boolean',
 			markdownDescription: nls.localize('useIgnoreFiles', "Controls whether to use `.gitignore` and `.ignore` files when searching for files."),