diff --git a/src/common/regex.cpp b/src/common/regex.cpp
index 471a983fcc..118bf0fcb3 100644
--- a/src/common/regex.cpp
+++ b/src/common/regex.cpp
@@ -728,7 +728,6 @@ int wxRegExImpl::Replace(wxString *text,
     const wxScopedCharBuffer textbuf = text->utf8_str();
     const char* const textstr = textbuf.data();
     size_t textlen = textbuf.length();
-    text->clear();
 #endif
 
     // the replacement text