diff --git a/core/database.php b/core/database.php
index 1e52c162d..bc4307c87 100644
--- a/core/database.php
+++ b/core/database.php
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ private function get_db(): PDO
 
     private function connect_engine(): void
     {
-        if (\Safe\preg_match("/^([^:]*)/", $this->dsn, $matches)) {
+        if (preg_match("/^([^:]*)/", $this->dsn, $matches)) {
             $db_proto = $matches[1];
         } else {
             throw new ServerError("Can't figure out database engine");
diff --git a/core/dbengine.php b/core/dbengine.php
index a635f2255..c17176f3c 100644
--- a/core/dbengine.php
+++ b/core/dbengine.php
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ public function create_table_sql(string $name, string $data): string
         $extras = "";
         foreach (explode(",", $data) as $bit) {
             $matches = [];
-            if (\Safe\preg_match("/(UNIQUE)? ?INDEX\s*\((.*)\)/", $bit, $matches)) {
+            if (preg_match("/(UNIQUE)? ?INDEX\s*\((.*)\)/", $bit, $matches)) {
                 $uni = $matches[1];
                 $col = $matches[2];
                 $extras .= "CREATE $uni INDEX {$name}_{$col} ON {$name}({$col});";
diff --git a/core/page.php b/core/page.php
index 4635bce2b..792188433 100644
--- a/core/page.php
+++ b/core/page.php
@@ -767,10 +767,7 @@ public static function is_active(array $pages_matched, ?string $url = null): boo
          */
         $url = $url ?? _get_query();
 
-        $re1 = '.*?';
-        $re2 = '((?:[a-z][a-z_]+))';
-
-        if (\Safe\preg_match_all("/".$re1.$re2."/is", $url, $matches)) {
+        if (preg_match_all("/.*?((?:[a-z][a-z_]+))/is", $url, $matches) > 0) {
             $url = $matches[1][0];
         }
 
diff --git a/core/polyfills.php b/core/polyfills.php
index 9c1c0399e..e21c8b1a1 100644
--- a/core/polyfills.php
+++ b/core/polyfills.php
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 
 namespace Shimmie2;
 
-use function Safe\preg_match;
-
 /* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *\
 * Things which should be in the core API                                    *
 \* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */
diff --git a/core/util.php b/core/util.php
index 1d2b42aca..d23f5db05 100644
--- a/core/util.php
+++ b/core/util.php
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ function path_to_tags(string $path): array
 {
     $matches = [];
     $tags = [];
-    if (\Safe\preg_match("/\d+ - (.+)\.([a-zA-Z0-9]+)/", basename($path), $matches)) {
+    if (preg_match("/\d+ - (.+)\.([a-zA-Z0-9]+)/", basename($path), $matches)) {
         $tags = explode(" ", $matches[1]);
     }
 
@@ -812,7 +812,7 @@ function shm_tempnam(string $prefix = ""): string
 function load_balance_url(string $tmpl, string $hash, int $n = 0): string
 {
     $matches = [];
-    if (\Safe\preg_match("/(.*){(.*)}(.*)/", $tmpl, $matches)) {
+    if (preg_match("/(.*){(.*)}(.*)/", $tmpl, $matches)) {
         $pre = $matches[1];
         $opts = $matches[2];
         $post = $matches[3];
diff --git a/ext/ban_words/main.php b/ext/ban_words/main.php
index 7e9a372ff..4aaf5c261 100644
--- a/ext/ban_words/main.php
+++ b/ext/ban_words/main.php
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ private function test_text(string $comment, SCoreException $ex): void
         foreach ($this->get_words() as $word) {
             if ($word[0] == '/') {
                 // lines that start with slash are regex
-                if (\Safe\preg_match($word, $comment) === 1) {
+                if (\Safe\preg_match($word, $comment)) {
                     throw $ex;
                 }
             } else {
diff --git a/ext/index/events.php b/ext/index/events.php
index 8f640fa05..83c8628bb 100644
--- a/ext/index/events.php
+++ b/ext/index/events.php
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ public function matches(string $regex): ?array
         if (is_null($this->term)) {
             return null;
         }
-        if (\Safe\preg_match($regex, $this->term, $matches) === 1) {
+        if (\Safe\preg_match($regex, $this->term, $matches)) {
             return $matches;
         }
         return null;
diff --git a/ext/link_image/test.php b/ext/link_image/test.php
index e31616ab4..fe6b38efd 100644
--- a/ext/link_image/test.php
+++ b/ext/link_image/test.php
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ public function testLinkImage(): void
         $this->get_page("post/view/$image_id");
 
         $matches = [];
-        \Safe\preg_match("#value='https?://.*/(post/view/[0-9]+)'#", $this->page_to_text(), $matches);
+        $this->assertNotFalse(preg_match("#value='https?://.*/(post/view/[0-9]+)'#", $this->page_to_text(), $matches));
         $this->assertNotEmpty($matches);
         $page = $this->get_page($matches[1]);
         $this->assertEquals("Post $image_id: pie", $page->title);
diff --git a/ext/media/main.php b/ext/media/main.php
index 604fb2238..7abb362e7 100644
--- a/ext/media/main.php
+++ b/ext/media/main.php
@@ -860,9 +860,8 @@ public static function video_size(string $filename): array
         }
         // error_log("Getting size with `$cmd`");
 
-        $regex_sizes = "/Video: .* ([0-9]{1,4})x([0-9]{1,4})/";
-        if (\Safe\preg_match($regex_sizes, $output, $regs)) {
-            if (\Safe\preg_match("/displaymatrix: rotation of (90|270).00 degrees/", $output)) {
+        if (preg_match("/Video: .* ([0-9]{1,4})x([0-9]{1,4})/", $output, $regs)) {
+            if (preg_match("/displaymatrix: rotation of (90|270).00 degrees/", $output)) {
                 $size = [(int)$regs[2], (int)$regs[1]];
             } else {
                 $size = [(int)$regs[1], (int)$regs[2]];
diff --git a/ext/ouroboros_api/main.php b/ext/ouroboros_api/main.php
index 68346a150..9040481fb 100644
--- a/ext/ouroboros_api/main.php
+++ b/ext/ouroboros_api/main.php
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ public function onPageRequest(PageRequestEvent $event): void
     {
         global $page, $user;
 
-        if (\Safe\preg_match("%\.(xml|json)$%", implode('/', $event->args), $matches) === 1) {
+        if (preg_match("%\.(xml|json)$%", implode('/', $event->args), $matches)) {
             $this->type = $matches[1];
             if ($this->type == 'json') {
                 $page->set_mime('application/json; charset=utf-8');
@@ -617,6 +617,6 @@ private function tryAuth(): void
      */
     private function match(PageRequestEvent $event, string $page): bool
     {
-        return (\Safe\preg_match("%{$page}\.(xml|json)$%", implode('/', $event->args), $matches) === 1);
+        return (preg_match("%{$page}\.(xml|json)$%", implode('/', $event->args), $matches) === 1);
     }
 }
diff --git a/ext/post_tags/main.php b/ext/post_tags/main.php
index 67ec884ac..61dfc0ed7 100644
--- a/ext/post_tags/main.php
+++ b/ext/post_tags/main.php
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ public function __construct(string $term)
     public function matches(string $regex): ?array
     {
         $matches = [];
-        if (\Safe\preg_match($regex, $this->term, $matches) === 1) {
+        if (\Safe\preg_match($regex, $this->term, $matches)) {
             return $matches;
         }
         return null;
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ public function __construct(string $term, int $image_id)
     public function matches(string $regex): ?array
     {
         $matches = [];
-        if (\Safe\preg_match($regex, $this->term, $matches) === 1) {
+        if (\Safe\preg_match($regex, $this->term, $matches)) {
             return array_values($matches);
         }
         return null;