diff --git a/lib/search/normal.c b/lib/search/normal.c
index 4287e2174..49e45675e 100644
--- a/lib/search/normal.c
+++ b/lib/search/normal.c
@@ -94,9 +94,10 @@ mc_search__cond_struct_new_init_normal (const char *charset, mc_search_t * lc_mc
     if (lc_mc_search->whole_words)
     {
         /* NOTE: \b as word boundary doesn't allow search
-         * whole words with non-ASCII symbols */
-        g_string_prepend (tmp, "(^|[^\\p{L}\\p{N}_])(");
-        g_string_append (tmp, ")([^\\p{L}\\p{N}_]|$)");
+         * whole words with non-ASCII symbols.
+         * Update: Is it still true nowadays? Probably not. #2396, #3524 */
+        g_string_prepend (tmp, "(?<![\\p{L}\\p{N}_])");
+        g_string_append (tmp, "(?![\\p{L}\\p{N}_])");
     }
 
     mc_search_cond->str = tmp;
diff --git a/lib/search/regex.c b/lib/search/regex.c
index 082fa2c0f..ac24c8de8 100644
--- a/lib/search/regex.c
+++ b/lib/search/regex.c
@@ -881,21 +881,10 @@ mc_search__run_regex (mc_search_t * lc_mc_search, const void *user_data,
         {
         case COND__FOUND_OK:
 #ifdef SEARCH_TYPE_GLIB
-            if (lc_mc_search->whole_words)
-                g_match_info_fetch_pos (lc_mc_search->regex_match_info, 2, &start_pos, &end_pos);
-            else
-                g_match_info_fetch_pos (lc_mc_search->regex_match_info, 0, &start_pos, &end_pos);
+            g_match_info_fetch_pos (lc_mc_search->regex_match_info, 0, &start_pos, &end_pos);
 #else /* SEARCH_TYPE_GLIB */
-            if (lc_mc_search->whole_words)
-            {
-                start_pos = lc_mc_search->iovector[4];
-                end_pos = lc_mc_search->iovector[5];
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                start_pos = lc_mc_search->iovector[0];
-                end_pos = lc_mc_search->iovector[1];
-            }
+            start_pos = lc_mc_search->iovector[0];
+            end_pos = lc_mc_search->iovector[1];
 #endif /* SEARCH_TYPE_GLIB */
             if (found_len != NULL)
                 *found_len = end_pos - start_pos;