diff --git a/src/Parser/AbstractParser.php b/src/Parser/AbstractParser.php
index 4aab18ab..aef98f20 100644
--- a/src/Parser/AbstractParser.php
+++ b/src/Parser/AbstractParser.php
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ private function storeQuery(State $state, &$queries)
      */
     private function isStatementEmpty($statement)
     {
-        return mb_ereg_match('^\\s*$', $statement);
+        return trim($statement) === '';
     }
 
     /**
@@ -244,8 +244,15 @@ protected function handleNumberedParameter(State $state)
      */
     protected function handleSemiColon(State $state)
     {
-        $uselessCharacters = $state->capture(';\\s*');
-        $state->passString($uselessCharacters);
+        while (! $state->done())
+        {
+            $character = $state->getCurrentCharacter();
+            if (! in_array($character, array(';', "\r", "\n", "\t", " "), true))
+            {
+                break;
+            }
+            $state->passString($character);
+        }
         $state->setNewStatementCharacterFound(true);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Parser/PgsqlParser.php b/src/Parser/PgsqlParser.php
index 92fee167..47bd1a75 100644
--- a/src/Parser/PgsqlParser.php
+++ b/src/Parser/PgsqlParser.php
@@ -91,10 +91,22 @@ protected function handlePossibleCStyleString(State $state)
                 }
                 if (! $inCString) {
                     // Checking if we have blank characters until next quote. In which case it is the same string
-                    $blanks = $state->capture("\\s*'");
+                    $offset = 1;
+                    $blanks = true;
+                    while (! $state->done()) {
+                        $characterAtOffset = $state->getCharacterFromCurrent($offset);
+                        if ($characterAtOffset === "'") {
+                            break;
+                        }
+                        if (! in_array($characterAtOffset, array(" ", "\n", "\r", "\t"), true)) {
+                            $blanks = false;
+                            break;
+                        }
+                        $offset ++;                            
+                    }
                     if ($blanks) {
-                        $state->copyUntilCharacter("'");
                         $state->copyCurrentCharacter();
+                        $state->copyUntilCharacter("'");
                         $inCString = true;
                     }
                 }
@@ -111,7 +123,17 @@ protected function handlePossibleCStyleString(State $state)
      */
     protected function handleDollar(State $state)
     {
-        $identifier = $state->capture('\\$([a-zA-Z_]\\w*)*\\$');
+        $identifier = '$';
+        $offset = 1;
+        while (! $state->done()) {
+            $character = $state->getCharacterFromCurrent($offset); 
+            $identifier .= $character;
+            if ($character === '$') {
+                break;
+            }
+            $offset ++;
+        }
+        
         if ($identifier) {
             // Copy until the end of the starting tag
             $state->copyUntilCharacter($identifier);
diff --git a/src/Parser/State.php b/src/Parser/State.php
index 7f841ea5..ae240df4 100644
--- a/src/Parser/State.php
+++ b/src/Parser/State.php
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ class State
      */
     protected $new_statement_character_found = false;
 
+    protected $valid_placeholder_characters = [];
+    
     /**
      *
      * Constructor
@@ -90,6 +92,12 @@ public function __construct($statement, $values = array(), $charset = 'UTF-8')
         if (array_key_exists(0, $this->values)) {
             array_unshift($this->values, null);
         }
+        $this->valid_placeholder_characters = array_merge(
+            range('a', 'z'),
+            range ('A', 'Z'),
+            range (0, 9),
+            array('0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', '_')
+        );
     }
 
     /**
@@ -162,6 +170,16 @@ public function getCurrentCharacter()
         return mb_substr($this->statement, $this->current_index, 1, $this->charset);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the character $n position after the current character
+     * @param $n
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function getCharacterFromCurrent($n)
+    {
+        return mb_substr($this->statement, $this->current_index + $n, 1, $this->charset);
+    }
+
     /**
      *
      * Returns the modified SQL query
@@ -321,31 +339,20 @@ public function getCharset()
      */
     public function getIdentifier()
     {
-        return $this->capture('\\w+\\b');
-    }
-
-    /**
-     *
-     * Tries to matche a regular expression starting at current index and returns the result
-     *
-     * @param string $regexp
-     * @param int $capture_group
-     * @return string
-     */
-    public function capture($regexp, $capture_group = 0)
-    {
-        $capture = '';
-        if ($this->last_index <= $this->current_index) {
-           return $capture;
-        }
-        mb_regex_encoding($this->charset);
-        if (mb_ereg_search_init($this->statement) !== false) {
-            mb_ereg_search_setpos($this->current_index);
-            if ($matches = mb_ereg_search_regs('\\G' . $regexp)) {
-                $capture = isset($matches[$capture_group]) ? $matches[$capture_group] : '';
+        $identifier = '';
+        $length = 0;
+        while (! $this->done())
+        {
+            $character = mb_substr($this->statement, $this->current_index + $length, 1, $this->charset);
+            if (! in_array($character, $this->valid_placeholder_characters, true))
+            {
+                return $identifier;
             }
+            $identifier .= $character;
+            $length++;
+            
         }
-        return $capture;
+        return $identifier;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/Parser/PgsqlParserTest.php b/tests/Parser/PgsqlParserTest.php
index d81902a4..6498b8b4 100644
--- a/tests/Parser/PgsqlParserTest.php
+++ b/tests/Parser/PgsqlParserTest.php
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ public function testCStyleStringConstants()
 
         $sql = <<<SQL
 SELECT E'Multiline'
-'C-style escaping \' :foo \''
+       'C-style escaping \' :foo \' :foo'
 SQL;
         $parsedQuery = $this->parseSingleQuery($sql, $parameters);
         $this->assertEquals($sql, $parsedQuery->getStatement());
@@ -206,6 +206,14 @@ public function testDollarQuotedStrings()
         $sql = 'SELECT $outer$ nested strings $inner$:foo$inner$ $outer$';
         $parsedQuery = $this->parseSingleQuery($sql, $parameters);
         $this->assertEquals($sql, $parsedQuery->getStatement());
+
+        $sql = 'SELECT $€$hello$€$';
+        $parsedQuery = $this->parseSingleQuery($sql, $parameters);
+        $this->assertEquals($sql, $parsedQuery->getStatement());
+
+        $sql = 'SELECT $€$hello$€';
+        $parsedQuery = $this->parseSingleQuery($sql, $parameters);
+        $this->assertEquals($sql, $parsedQuery->getStatement());
     }
 
     public function testTypeCasting()