diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index cca6d97d..7c5f4608 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -81,6 +81,27 @@ for target in $($PKG_CONFIG --variable targets gdk-$GTK_API_VERSION); do
   esac
 done
 
+# PCRE2
+
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether PCRE2 support is requested])
+AC_ARG_WITH([pcre2],
+  [AS_HELP_STRING([--without-pcre2],[Disable pcre2 support])],
+  [],[with_pcre2=no])
+AC_MSG_RESULT([$with_pcre2])
+
+PCRE2_PKGS=
+if test "$with_pcre2" = "yes"; then
+  PCRE2_PKGS="libpcre2-8 >= $PCRE2_REQUIRED"
+
+  PKG_CHECK_MODULES([PCRE2],[$PCRE2_PKGS],,
+    [AC_MSG_ERROR([PCRE2 requested but libpcre2-8 not found. Use --without-pcre2 to disable PCRE2])])
+
+  AC_DEFINE([WITH_PCRE2],[1],[Define to 1 to enable pcre2 support])
+  EXTRA_DEPS="$EXTRA_DEPS $PCRE2_PKGS"
+fi
+
+AM_CONDITIONAL([WITH_PCRE2],[test "$with_pcre2" = "yes"])
+
 # pkg-config checks
 
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES([TERM],
@@ -91,8 +112,8 @@ PKG_CHECK_MODULES([TERM],
    gsettings-desktop-schemas >= $GSETTINGS_DESKTOP_SCHEMAS_REQUIRED
    dconf >= $DCONF_REQUIRED
    uuid
-   libpcre2-8 >= $PCRE2_REQUIRED
-   $PLATFORM_DEPS])
+   $PLATFORM_DEPS
+   $PCRE2_PKGS])
 
 # ****
 # DBus
@@ -343,6 +364,7 @@ gnome-terminal-$VERSION:
       prefix:                 ${prefix}
       source code location:   ${srcdir}
       compiler:               ${CC}
+      PCRE2:                  ${with_pcre2}
       gterminal:              ${enable_gterminal}
       DBus interface dir:     ${dbusinterfacedir}
       DBus service dir:       ${dbusservicedir}
diff --git a/src/terminal-screen.c b/src/terminal-screen.c
index a13e1bac..f94cd91d 100644
--- a/src/terminal-screen.c
+++ b/src/terminal-screen.c
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@
 
 #include "config.h"
 
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
 #include "terminal-pcre2.h"
+#endif
+
 #include "terminal-regex.h"
 #include "terminal-screen.h"
 
@@ -196,8 +199,13 @@ static const TerminalRegexPattern extra_regex_patterns[] = {
   { "(0[Xx][[:xdigit:]]+|[[:digit:]]+)", FLAVOR_NUMBER },
 };
 
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
 static VteRegex **url_regexes;
 static VteRegex **extra_regexes;
+#else
+static GRegex **url_regexes;
+static GRegex **extra_regexes;
+#endif
 static TerminalURLFlavor *url_regex_flavors;
 static TerminalURLFlavor *extra_regex_flavors;
 static guint n_url_regexes;
@@ -301,18 +309,27 @@ free_tag_data (TagData *tagdata)
 static void
 precompile_regexes (const TerminalRegexPattern *regex_patterns,
                     guint n_regexes,
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
                     VteRegex ***regexes,
+#else
+                    GRegex ***regexes,
+#endif
                     TerminalURLFlavor **regex_flavors)
 {
   guint i;
 
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
   *regexes = g_new0 (VteRegex*, n_regexes);
+#else
+  *regexes = g_new0 (GRegex*, n_regexes);
+#endif
   *regex_flavors = g_new0 (TerminalURLFlavor, n_regexes);
 
   for (i = 0; i < n_regexes; ++i)
     {
       GError *error = NULL;
 
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
       (*regexes)[i] = vte_regex_new_for_match (regex_patterns[i].pattern, -1,
                                                PCRE2_UTF | PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK | PCRE2_MULTILINE,
                                                &error);
@@ -323,6 +340,13 @@ precompile_regexes (const TerminalRegexPattern *regex_patterns,
         g_printerr ("Failed to JIT regex '%s': %s\n", regex_patterns[i].pattern, error->message);
         g_clear_error (&error);
       }
+#else
+      (*regexes)[i] = g_regex_new (regex_patterns[i].pattern,
+                                   G_REGEX_OPTIMIZE |
+                                   G_REGEX_MULTILINE,
+                                   0, &error);
+      g_assert_no_error (error);
+#endif
 
       (*regex_flavors)[i] = regex_patterns[i].flavor;
     }
@@ -455,7 +479,11 @@ terminal_screen_init (TerminalScreen *screen)
 
       tag_data = g_slice_new (TagData);
       tag_data->flavor = url_regex_flavors[i];
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
       tag_data->tag = vte_terminal_match_add_regex (terminal, url_regexes[i], 0);
+#else
+      tag_data->tag = vte_terminal_match_add_gregex (terminal, url_regexes[i], 0);
+#endif
       vte_terminal_match_set_cursor_type (terminal, tag_data->tag, URL_MATCH_CURSOR);
 
       priv->match_tags = g_slist_prepend (priv->match_tags, tag_data);
@@ -2247,7 +2275,12 @@ terminal_screen_check_extra (TerminalScreen *screen,
   memset(matches, 0, sizeof(char*) * n_extra_regexes);
 
   if (
-      vte_terminal_event_check_regex_simple (VTE_TERMINAL (screen),
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
+      vte_terminal_event_check_regex_simple(
+#else
+      vte_terminal_event_check_gregex_simple(
+#endif
+                                             VTE_TERMINAL (screen),
                                              event,
                                              extra_regexes,
                                              n_extra_regexes,
diff --git a/src/terminal-search-popover.c b/src/terminal-search-popover.c
index 81979b21..ea57e2c7 100644
--- a/src/terminal-search-popover.c
+++ b/src/terminal-search-popover.c
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@
 #include <glib/gi18n.h>
 #include <gtk/gtk.h>
 
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
 #include "terminal-pcre2.h"
+#endif
+
 #include "terminal-search-popover.h"
 #include "terminal-intl.h"
 #include "terminal-window.h"
@@ -63,8 +66,13 @@ struct _TerminalSearchPopoverPrivate
 
   /* Cached regex */
   gboolean regex_caseless;
+  gboolean regex_multiline;
   char *regex_pattern;
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
   VteRegex *regex;
+#else
+  GRegex *regex;
+#endif
 };
 
 enum {
@@ -259,7 +267,7 @@ update_regex (TerminalSearchPopover *popover)
 {
   TerminalSearchPopoverPrivate *priv = PRIV (popover);
   const char *search_text;
-  gboolean caseless;
+  gboolean caseless, multiline = FALSE;
   gs_free char *pattern;
   gs_free_error GError *error = NULL;
 
@@ -269,6 +277,7 @@ update_regex (TerminalSearchPopover *popover)
 
   if (gtk_toggle_button_get_active (GTK_TOGGLE_BUTTON (priv->regex_checkbutton))) {
     pattern = g_strdup (search_text);
+    multiline = TRUE;
   } else {
     pattern = g_regex_escape_string (search_text, -1);
   }
@@ -281,29 +290,47 @@ update_regex (TerminalSearchPopover *popover)
   }
 
   if (priv->regex_caseless == caseless &&
+      priv->regex_multiline == multiline &&
       g_strcmp0 (priv->regex_pattern, pattern) == 0)
     return;
 
   if (priv->regex) {
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
     vte_regex_unref (priv->regex);
+#else
+    g_regex_unref (priv->regex);
+#endif
   }
 
   g_clear_pointer (&priv->regex_pattern, g_free);
 
   /* FIXME: if comping the regex fails, show the error message somewhere */
   if (search_text[0] != '\0') {
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
     guint32 compile_flags;
 
-    compile_flags = PCRE2_UTF | PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK | PCRE2_MULTILINE;
+    compile_flags = PCRE2_UTF | PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK;
     if (caseless)
       compile_flags |= PCRE2_CASELESS;
+    if (multiline)
+      compile_flags |= PCRE2_MULTILINE;
 
     priv->regex = vte_regex_new_for_search (pattern, -1, compile_flags, &error);
     if (priv->regex != NULL &&
         (!vte_regex_jit (priv->regex, PCRE2_JIT_COMPLETE, NULL) ||
          !vte_regex_jit (priv->regex, PCRE2_JIT_PARTIAL_SOFT, NULL))) {
     }
+#else
+    GRegexCompileFlags compile_flags;
+
+    compile_flags = G_REGEX_OPTIMIZE;
+    if (caseless)
+      compile_flags |= G_REGEX_CASELESS;
+    if (multiline)
+      compile_flags |= G_REGEX_MULTILINE;
 
+    priv->regex = g_regex_new (pattern, compile_flags, 0, &error);
+#endif
     if (priv->regex != NULL)
       gs_transfer_out_value (&priv->regex_pattern, &pattern);
   } else {
@@ -350,7 +377,7 @@ terminal_search_popover_init (TerminalSearchPopover *popover)
   GtkWidget *widget = GTK_WIDGET (popover);
 
   priv->regex_pattern = 0;
-  priv->regex_caseless = FALSE;
+  priv->regex_caseless = priv->regex_multiline = FALSE;
 
   gtk_widget_init_template (widget);
 
@@ -418,7 +445,11 @@ terminal_search_popover_finalize (GObject *object)
   TerminalSearchPopoverPrivate *priv = PRIV (popover);
 
   if (priv->regex) {
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
     vte_regex_unref (priv->regex);
+#else
+    g_regex_unref (priv->regex);
+#endif
   }
 
   g_free (priv->regex_pattern);
@@ -487,7 +518,11 @@ terminal_search_popover_class_init (TerminalSearchPopoverClass *klass)
 
   pspecs[PROP_REGEX] =
     g_param_spec_boxed ("regex", NULL, NULL,
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
                         VTE_TYPE_REGEX,
+#else
+                        G_TYPE_REGEX,
+#endif
                         G_PARAM_READABLE | G_PARAM_STATIC_NAME | G_PARAM_STATIC_NICK | G_PARAM_STATIC_BLURB);
 
   pspecs[PROP_WRAP_AROUND] =
@@ -535,7 +570,11 @@ terminal_search_popover_new (GtkWidget *relative_to_widget)
  *
  * Returns: (transfer none): the search regex, or %NULL
  */
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
 VteRegex *
+#else
+GRegex *
+#endif
 terminal_search_popover_get_regex (TerminalSearchPopover *popover)
 {
   g_return_val_if_fail (TERMINAL_IS_SEARCH_POPOVER (popover), NULL);
diff --git a/src/terminal-search-popover.h b/src/terminal-search-popover.h
index 10771d9a..813f0f34 100644
--- a/src/terminal-search-popover.h
+++ b/src/terminal-search-popover.h
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ GType terminal_search_popover_get_type (void);
 
 TerminalSearchPopover *terminal_search_popover_new (GtkWidget *relative_to_widget);
 
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
 VteRegex *
+#else
+GRegex *
+#endif
           terminal_search_popover_get_regex (TerminalSearchPopover *popover);
 
 gboolean terminal_search_popover_get_wrap_around (TerminalSearchPopover *popover);
diff --git a/src/terminal-window.c b/src/terminal-window.c
index 2906babd..f3d4f03c 100644
--- a/src/terminal-window.c
+++ b/src/terminal-window.c
@@ -1110,13 +1110,21 @@ search_popover_notify_regex_cb (TerminalSearchPopover *popover,
                                 TerminalWindow *window)
 {
   TerminalWindowPrivate *priv = window->priv;
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
   VteRegex *regex;
+#else
+  GRegex *regex;
+#endif
 
   if (G_UNLIKELY (priv->active_screen == NULL))
     return;
 
   regex = terminal_search_popover_get_regex (popover);
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
   vte_terminal_search_set_regex (VTE_TERMINAL (priv->active_screen), regex, 0);
+#else
+  vte_terminal_search_set_gregex (VTE_TERMINAL (priv->active_screen), regex, 0);
+#endif
 
   terminal_window_update_search_sensitivity (priv->active_screen, window);
 }
@@ -1212,7 +1220,11 @@ action_find_clear_cb (GSimpleAction *action,
   if (priv->active_screen == NULL)
     return;
 
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
   vte_terminal_search_set_regex (VTE_TERMINAL (priv->active_screen), NULL, 0);
+#else
+  vte_terminal_search_set_gregex (VTE_TERMINAL (priv->active_screen), NULL, 0);
+#endif
 }
 
 static void
@@ -1606,7 +1618,11 @@ terminal_window_update_search_sensitivity (TerminalScreen *screen,
   if (screen != priv->active_screen)
     return;
 
+#ifdef WITH_PCRE2
   gboolean can_search = vte_terminal_search_get_regex (VTE_TERMINAL (screen)) != NULL;
+#else
+  gboolean can_search = vte_terminal_search_get_gregex (VTE_TERMINAL (screen)) != NULL;
+#endif
 
   g_simple_action_set_enabled (lookup_action (window, "find-forward"), can_search);
   g_simple_action_set_enabled (lookup_action (window, "find-backward"), can_search);