diff --git a/lib/search/regex.c b/lib/search/regex.c
index 863fb5767..0f2b7b6f7 100644
--- a/lib/search/regex.c
+++ b/lib/search/regex.c
@@ -277,6 +277,9 @@ mc_search__g_regex_match_full_safe (const GRegex * regex,
     char *string_safe, *p, *end;
     gboolean ret;
 
+    if (string_len < 0)
+        string_len = strlen (string);
+
     if ((g_regex_get_compile_flags (regex) & G_REGEX_RAW)
         || g_utf8_validate (string, string_len, NULL))
     {
@@ -284,11 +287,6 @@ mc_search__g_regex_match_full_safe (const GRegex * regex,
                                    match_info, error);
     }
 
-    if (string_len < 0)
-    {
-        string_len = strlen (string);
-    }
-
     /* Correctly handle embedded NULs while copying */
     p = string_safe = g_malloc (string_len);
     memcpy (string_safe, string, string_len);