diff --git a/include/CLI.hpp b/include/CLI.hpp
index caf2db9..806a31a 100644
--- a/include/CLI.hpp
+++ b/include/CLI.hpp
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #include <set>
 #include <iomanip>
 #include <numeric>
+#include <vector>
 
 // C standard library
 // Only needed for existence checking
@@ -25,17 +26,6 @@
 
 #include <locale>
 
-// GCC 4.7 and 4.8 have an non-working implementation of regex
-#include <regex>
-#if __cplusplus >= 201103L \
-    && (!defined(__GLIBCXX__) \
-       || (defined(_GLIBCXX_RELEASE) && _GLIBCXX_RELEASE>4) \
-       || (__cplusplus >= 201402L) \
-       || (defined(_GLIBCXX_REGEX_DFS_QUANTIFIERS_LIMIT) || defined(_GLIBCXX_REGEX_STATE_LIMIT)))
-#define HAVE_WORKING_REGEX 1
-#else
-#define HAVE_WORKING_REGEX 0
-#endif
 
 //#define CLI_LOG 1
 
@@ -191,15 +181,31 @@ struct EmptyError : public Error {
     EmptyError(std::string name) : Error("EmptyError", name, 9) {}
 };
 
-const std::regex reg_short{R"regex(-([a-zA-Z_])(.*))regex"};
-const std::regex reg_long{R"regex(--([^-^=][^=]*)=?(.*))regex"};
+
+template<typename T>
+bool valid_first_char(T c) {
+    return std::isalpha(c) || c=='_';
+}
+
+template<typename T>
+bool valid_later_char(T c) {
+    return std::isalnum(c) || c=='_' || c=='.' || c=='-';
+}
+
+inline bool valid_name_string(const std::string &str) {
+    if(str.size()<1 || !valid_first_char(str[0]))
+        return false;
+    for(auto c : str.substr(1))
+        if(!valid_later_char(c))
+            return false;
+    return true;
+}
 
 // Returns false if not a short option. Otherwise, sets opt name and rest and returns true
 inline bool split_short(const std::string &current, std::string &name, std::string &rest) {
-    std::smatch match;
-    if(std::regex_match(current, match, reg_short)) {
-        name = match[1];
-        rest = match[2];
+    if(current.size()>1 && current[0] == '-' && valid_first_char(current[1])) {
+        name = current.substr(1,1);
+        rest = current.substr(2);
         return true;
     } else
         return false;
@@ -207,10 +213,15 @@ inline bool split_short(const std::string &current, std::string &name, std::stri
 
 // Returns false if not a long option. Otherwise, sets opt name and other side of = and returns true
 inline bool split_long(const std::string &current, std::string &name, std::string &value) {
-    std::smatch match;
-    if(std::regex_match(current, match, reg_long)) {
-        name = match[1];
-        value = match[2];
+    if(current.size()>2 && current.substr(0,2) == "--" && valid_first_char(current[2])) {
+        auto loc = current.find("=");
+        if(loc != std::string::npos) {
+            name = current.substr(2,loc-2);
+            value = current.substr(loc+1);
+        } else {
+            name = current.substr(2);
+            value = "";
+        }
         return true;
     } else
         return false;
@@ -229,24 +240,6 @@ inline std::vector<std::string> split_names(std::string current) {
 
 }
 
-template<typename T>
-bool valid_first_char(T c) {
-    return std::isalpha(c) || c=='_';
-}
-
-template<typename T>
-bool valid_later_char(T c) {
-    return std::isalnum(c) || c=='_' || c=='.' || c=='-';
-}
-
-inline bool valid_name_string(const std::string &str) {
-    if(str.size()<1 || !valid_first_char(str[0]))
-        return false;
-    for(auto c : str.substr(1))
-        if(!valid_later_char(c))
-            return false;
-    return true;
-}
 
 inline std::tuple<std::vector<std::string>,std::vector<std::string>> get_names(const std::vector<std::string> &input) {
     std::vector<std::string> short_names;