diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 8aa2b0e..1aba6f5 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ module github.com/pb33f/libopenapi-validator
 go 1.23.0
 
 require (
+	github.com/dlclark/regexp2 v1.11.0
 	github.com/pb33f/libopenapi v0.21.8
 	github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6 v6.0.1
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
diff --git a/validator.go b/validator.go
index d96436c..7e0ce44 100644
--- a/validator.go
+++ b/validator.go
@@ -105,7 +105,11 @@ func (v *validator) GetResponseBodyValidator() responses.ResponseBodyValidator {
 }
 
 func (v *validator) ValidateDocument() (bool, []*errors.ValidationError) {
-	return schema_validation.ValidateOpenAPIDocument(v.document)
+	var validationOpts []config.Option
+	if v.options != nil {
+		validationOpts = append(validationOpts, config.WithRegexEngine(v.options.RegexEngine))
+	}
+	return schema_validation.ValidateOpenAPIDocument(v.document, validationOpts...)
 }
 
 func (v *validator) ValidateHttpResponse(
diff --git a/validator_test.go b/validator_test.go
index e7d5b21..d0f5808 100644
--- a/validator_test.go
+++ b/validator_test.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/dlclark/regexp2"
 	"github.com/pb33f/libopenapi"
 	"github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -142,25 +143,30 @@ func TestNewValidator_ValidateDocument(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Len(t, errs, 0)
 }
 
-type alwaysMatchesRegex jsonschema.RegexpEngine
+type dlclarkRegexp regexp2.Regexp
 
-func (dr *alwaysMatchesRegex) MatchString(s string) bool {
-	return true
+func (re *dlclarkRegexp) MatchString(s string) bool {
+	matched, err := (*regexp2.Regexp)(re).MatchString(s)
+	return err == nil && matched
 }
 
-func (dr *alwaysMatchesRegex) String() string {
-	return ""
+func (re *dlclarkRegexp) String() string {
+	return (*regexp2.Regexp)(re).String()
 }
 
-func fakeRegexEngine(s string) (jsonschema.Regexp, error) {
-	return (*alwaysMatchesRegex)(nil), nil
+func dlclarkCompile(s string) (jsonschema.Regexp, error) {
+	re, err := regexp2.Compile(s, regexp2.ECMAScript)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return (*dlclarkRegexp)(re), nil
 }
 
 func TestNewValidator_WithRegex(t *testing.T) {
 	doc, err := libopenapi.NewDocument(petstoreBytes)
 	require.Nil(t, err, "Failed to load spec")
 
-	v, errs := NewValidator(doc, config.WithRegexEngine(fakeRegexEngine))
+	v, errs := NewValidator(doc, config.WithRegexEngine(dlclarkCompile))
 	require.Empty(t, errs, "Failed to build validator")
 	require.NotNil(t, v, "Failed to build validator")