diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 3e9d9ab8b..3192b2b4e 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -2321,7 +2321,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 		}
 		win_created = true;
 		if (cmd) {
-			vis_prompt_cmd(vis, cmd);
+			vis_prompt_cmd(vis, cmd, strlen(cmd));
 			cmd = NULL;
 		}
 	}
@@ -2330,7 +2330,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 		if (!vis_window_new(vis, NULL))
 			vis_die(vis, "Can not create empty buffer\n");
 		if (cmd)
-			vis_prompt_cmd(vis, cmd);
+			vis_prompt_cmd(vis, cmd, strlen(cmd));
 	}
 
 	int status = vis_run(vis);
diff --git a/sam.c b/sam.c
index 90d19c297..268b07496 100644
--- a/sam.c
+++ b/sam.c
@@ -694,7 +694,7 @@ static Regex *parse_regex(Vis *vis, const char **s) {
 	char *pattern = parse_delimited(s, CMD_REGEX);
 	if (!pattern && *s == before)
 		return NULL;
-	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, pattern);
+	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, pattern, strlen(pattern));
 	free(pattern);
 	return regex;
 }
diff --git a/text-regex-tre.c b/text-regex-tre.c
index db32d6d9e..fc0884a7e 100644
--- a/text-regex-tre.c
+++ b/text-regex-tre.c
@@ -121,9 +121,7 @@ void text_regex_free(Regex *r) {
 }
 
 int text_regex_compile(Regex *regex, const char *string, size_t len, int cflags) {
-	int r = len > 0
-	       ? tre_regncomp(&regex->regex, string, len, cflags)
-	       : tre_regcomp(&regex->regex, string, cflags);
+	int r = tre_regncomp(&regex->regex, string, len, cflags);
 
 	if (r)
 		tre_regcomp(&regex->regex, "\0\0", 0);
diff --git a/vis-cmds.c b/vis-cmds.c
index 4cfb3bd5d..1d706b2a8 100644
--- a/vis-cmds.c
+++ b/vis-cmds.c
@@ -874,7 +874,7 @@ static bool cmd_help(Vis *vis, Win *win, Command *cmd, const char *argv[], Selec
 	view_cursors_to(vis->win->view.selection, 0);
 
 	if (argv[1])
-		vis_motion(vis, VIS_MOVE_SEARCH_FORWARD, argv[1]);
+		vis_motion(vis, VIS_MOVE_SEARCH_FORWARD, argv[1], strlen(argv[1]));
 	return true;
 }
 
diff --git a/vis-motions.c b/vis-motions.c
index 1d3f49a23..2fc706298 100644
--- a/vis-motions.c
+++ b/vis-motions.c
@@ -16,10 +16,10 @@ static Regex *search_word(Vis *vis, Text *txt, size_t pos) {
 	if (!buf)
 		return NULL;
 	snprintf(expr, sizeof(expr), "[[:<:]]%s[[:>:]]", buf);
-	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, expr);
+	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, expr, strlen(expr));
 	if (!regex) {
 		snprintf(expr, sizeof(expr), "\\<%s\\>", buf);
-		regex = vis_regex(vis, expr);
+		regex = vis_regex(vis, expr, strlen(expr));
 	}
 	free(buf);
 	return regex;
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ static size_t search_word_backward(Vis *vis, Text *txt, size_t pos) {
 }
 
 static size_t search_forward(Vis *vis, Text *txt, size_t pos) {
-	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, NULL);
+	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, NULL, 0);
 	if (regex)
 		pos = text_search_forward(txt, pos, regex);
 	text_regex_free(regex);
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ static size_t search_forward(Vis *vis, Text *txt, size_t pos) {
 }
 
 static size_t search_backward(Vis *vis, Text *txt, size_t pos) {
-	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, NULL);
+	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, NULL, 0);
 	if (regex)
 		pos = text_search_backward(txt, pos, regex);
 	text_regex_free(regex);
@@ -293,7 +293,8 @@ bool vis_motion(Vis *vis, enum VisMotion motion, ...) {
 	case VIS_MOVE_SEARCH_BACKWARD:
 	{
 		const char *pattern = va_arg(ap, char*);
-		Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, pattern);
+		size_t len = va_arg(ap, size_t);
+		Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, pattern, len);
 		if (!regex) {
 			vis_cancel(vis);
 			goto err;
diff --git a/vis-prompt.c b/vis-prompt.c
index c2fbf9c1d..2884996ca 100644
--- a/vis-prompt.c
+++ b/vis-prompt.c
@@ -4,17 +4,17 @@
 #include "text-objects.h"
 #include "text-util.h"
 
-bool vis_prompt_cmd(Vis *vis, const char *cmd) {
-	if (!cmd || !cmd[0] || !cmd[1])
+bool vis_prompt_cmd(Vis *vis, const char *cmd, size_t len) {
+	if (!cmd || len < 2)
 		return true;
 	switch (cmd[0]) {
 	case '/':
-		return vis_motion(vis, VIS_MOVE_SEARCH_FORWARD, cmd+1);
+		return vis_motion(vis, VIS_MOVE_SEARCH_FORWARD, cmd+1, len-1);
 	case '?':
-		return vis_motion(vis, VIS_MOVE_SEARCH_BACKWARD, cmd+1);
+		return vis_motion(vis, VIS_MOVE_SEARCH_BACKWARD, cmd+1, len-1);
 	case '+':
 	case ':':
-		register_put0(vis, &vis->registers[VIS_REG_COMMAND], cmd+1);
+		register_put(vis, &vis->registers[VIS_REG_COMMAND], cmd+1, len-1);
 		return vis_cmd(vis, cmd+1);
 	default:
 		return false;
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ static const char *prompt_enter(Vis *vis, const char *keys, const Arg *arg) {
 	Text *txt = prompt->file->text;
 	Win *win = prompt->parent;
 	char *cmd = NULL;
+	size_t len = 0;
 
 	Filerange range = view_selections_get(view->selection);
 	if (!vis->mode->visual) {
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ static const char *prompt_enter(Vis *vis, const char *keys, const Arg *arg) {
 		else if (prompt->file == vis->search_file)
 			pattern = "^(/|\\?)";
 		int cflags = REG_EXTENDED|REG_NEWLINE|(REG_ICASE*vis->ignorecase);
-		if (pattern && regex && text_regex_compile(regex, pattern, 0, cflags) == 0) {
+		if (pattern && regex && text_regex_compile(regex, pattern, strlen(pattern), cflags) == 0) {
 			size_t end = text_line_end(txt, pos);
 			size_t prev = text_search_backward(txt, end, regex);
 			if (prev > pos)
@@ -76,8 +77,10 @@ static const char *prompt_enter(Vis *vis, const char *keys, const Arg *arg) {
 		}
 		text_regex_free(regex);
 	}
-	if (text_range_valid(&range))
-		cmd = text_bytes_alloc0(txt, range.start, text_range_size(&range));
+	if (text_range_valid(&range)) {
+		len = text_range_size(&range);
+		cmd = text_bytes_alloc0(txt, range.start, len);
+	}
 
 	if (!win || !cmd) {
 		if (!win)
@@ -90,14 +93,14 @@ static const char *prompt_enter(Vis *vis, const char *keys, const Arg *arg) {
 		return keys;
 	}
 
-	size_t len = strlen(cmd);
-	if (len > 0 && cmd[len-1] == '\n')
-		cmd[len-1] = '\0';
+	if (len > 0 && cmd[len-1] == '\n') {
+		cmd[--len] = '\0';
+	}
 
 	bool lastline = (range.end == text_size(txt));
 
 	prompt_restore(prompt);
-	if (vis_prompt_cmd(vis, cmd)) {
+	if (vis_prompt_cmd(vis, cmd, len)) {
 		prompt_hide(prompt);
 		if (!lastline) {
 			text_delete(txt, range.start, text_range_size(&range));
diff --git a/vis-text-objects.c b/vis-text-objects.c
index 3368e077f..2ad53be66 100644
--- a/vis-text-objects.c
+++ b/vis-text-objects.c
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ bool vis_textobject(Vis *vis, enum VisTextObject id) {
 
 static Filerange search_forward(Vis *vis, Text *txt, size_t pos) {
 	Filerange range = text_range_empty();
-	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, NULL);
+	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, NULL, 0);
 	if (regex)
 		range = text_object_search_forward(txt, pos, regex);
 	text_regex_free(regex);
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ static Filerange search_forward(Vis *vis, Text *txt, size_t pos) {
 
 static Filerange search_backward(Vis *vis, Text *txt, size_t pos) {
 	Filerange range = text_range_empty();
-	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, NULL);
+	Regex *regex = vis_regex(vis, NULL, 0);
 	if (regex)
 		range = text_object_search_backward(txt, pos, regex);
 	text_regex_free(regex);
diff --git a/vis.c b/vis.c
index 002af2144..f270d8a4e 100644
--- a/vis.c
+++ b/vis.c
@@ -1578,8 +1578,7 @@ void vis_insert_nl(Vis *vis) {
 	vis_window_invalidate(win);
 }
 
-Regex *vis_regex(Vis *vis, const char *pattern) {
-	size_t len = 0;
+Regex *vis_regex(Vis *vis, const char *pattern, size_t len) {
 	if (!pattern && !(pattern = register_get(vis, &vis->registers[VIS_REG_SEARCH], &len)))
 		return NULL;
 	Regex *regex = text_regex_new();
@@ -1590,8 +1589,7 @@ Regex *vis_regex(Vis *vis, const char *pattern) {
 		text_regex_free(regex);
 		return NULL;
 	}
-	if (len == 0)
-		register_put0(vis, &vis->registers[VIS_REG_SEARCH], pattern);
+	register_put(vis, &vis->registers[VIS_REG_SEARCH], pattern, len+1);
 	return regex;
 }
 
diff --git a/vis.h b/vis.h
index eb8ec92d1..f92471be8 100644
--- a/vis.h
+++ b/vis.h
@@ -836,7 +836,7 @@ bool vis_option_register(Vis*, const char *names[], enum VisOption,
 bool vis_option_unregister(Vis*, const char *name);
 
 /** Execute any kind (``:``, ``?``, ``/``) of prompt command */
-bool vis_prompt_cmd(Vis*, const char *cmd);
+bool vis_prompt_cmd(Vis*, const char *cmd, size_t len);
 
 /**
  * Pipe a given file range to an external process.
@@ -921,7 +921,7 @@ void vis_keys_feed(Vis*, const char *keys);
  * .. warning:: The caller must free the regex object using `text_regex_free`.
  * @endrst
  */
-Regex *vis_regex(Vis*, const char *pattern);
+Regex *vis_regex(Vis*, const char *pattern, size_t len);
 
 /**
  * Take an undo snapshot to which we can later revert.