diff --git a/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c b/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c
index 062a24bf..ec7b904b 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c
@@ -73,7 +73,8 @@ match_files_by_pattern(xbps_dictionary_t pkg_filesd,
 		if (filestr == NULL)
 			continue;
 		if (ffd->regex) {
-			regcomp(&regex, ffd->pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB);
+			if (regcomp(&regex, ffd->pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB) != 0)
+				return;
 			if (regexec(&regex, filestr, 0, 0, 0) == 0) {
 				printf("%s: %s (%s)\n", pkgver, filestr, typestr);
 			}
@@ -131,7 +132,8 @@ repo_match_cb(struct xbps_handle *xhp _unused,
 	for (unsigned int i = 0; i < xbps_array_count(obj); i++) {
 		xbps_array_get_cstring_nocopy(obj, i, &filestr);
 		if (ffd->regex) {
-			regcomp(&regex, ffd->pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB);
+			if (regcomp(&regex, ffd->pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB) != 0)
+				return errno;
 			if (regexec(&regex, filestr, 0, 0, 0) == 0) {
 				printf("%s: %s (%s)\n", key, filestr, ffd->repouri);
 			}
diff --git a/bin/xbps-query/search.c b/bin/xbps-query/search.c
index 1896f2df..ceef468c 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-query/search.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-query/search.c
@@ -116,7 +116,9 @@ search_array_cb(struct xbps_handle *xhp _unused,
 			vpkgfound = true;
 
 		if (sd->regex) {
-			regcomp(&regex, sd->pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB);
+			if (regcomp(&regex, sd->pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB) != 0)
+				return errno;
+
 			if ((regexec(&regex, pkgver, 0, 0, 0) == 0) ||
 			    (regexec(&regex, desc, 0, 0, 0) == 0)) {
 				xbps_array_add_cstring_nocopy(sd->results, pkgver);
@@ -140,7 +142,8 @@ search_array_cb(struct xbps_handle *xhp _unused,
 		for (unsigned int i = 0; i < xbps_array_count(obj2); i++) {
 			xbps_array_get_cstring_nocopy(obj2, i, &str);
 			if (sd->regex) {
-				regcomp(&regex, sd->pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB);
+				if (regcomp(&regex, sd->pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB) != 0)
+					return errno;
 				if (regexec(&regex, str, 0, 0, 0) == 0) {
 					xbps_dictionary_get_cstring_nocopy(obj, "pkgver", &pkgver);
 					printf("%s: %s (%s)\n", pkgver, str, sd->repourl);
@@ -162,7 +165,8 @@ search_array_cb(struct xbps_handle *xhp _unused,
 		/* property is a string */
 		str = xbps_string_cstring_nocopy(obj2);
 		if (sd->regex) {
-			regcomp(&regex, sd->pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB);
+			if (regcomp(&regex, sd->pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB) != 0)
+				return errno;
 			if (regexec(&regex, str, 0, 0, 0) == 0) {
 				xbps_dictionary_get_cstring_nocopy(obj, "pkgver", &pkgver);
 				printf("%s: %s (%s)\n", pkgver, str, sd->repourl);