diff --git a/regex-lite/src/hir/mod.rs b/regex-lite/src/hir/mod.rs
index 3d61ce8c9..6e5348a5b 100644
--- a/regex-lite/src/hir/mod.rs
+++ b/regex-lite/src/hir/mod.rs
@@ -366,6 +366,24 @@ impl Hir {
     }
 }
 
+impl HirKind {
+    /// Returns a slice of this kind's sub-expressions, if any.
+    fn subs(&self) -> &[Hir] {
+        use core::slice::from_ref;
+
+        match *self {
+            HirKind::Empty
+            | HirKind::Char(_)
+            | HirKind::Class(_)
+            | HirKind::Look(_) => &[],
+            HirKind::Repetition(Repetition { ref sub, .. }) => from_ref(sub),
+            HirKind::Capture(Capture { ref sub, .. }) => from_ref(sub),
+            HirKind::Concat(ref subs) => subs,
+            HirKind::Alternation(ref subs) => subs,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
 pub(crate) struct Class {
     pub(crate) ranges: Vec<ClassRange>,
@@ -747,3 +765,45 @@ fn prev_char(ch: char) -> Option<char> {
     // and U+E000 yields a valid scalar value.
     Some(char::from_u32(u32::from(ch).checked_sub(1)?).unwrap())
 }
+
+impl Drop for Hir {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        use core::mem;
+
+        match *self.kind() {
+            HirKind::Empty
+            | HirKind::Char(_)
+            | HirKind::Class(_)
+            | HirKind::Look(_) => return,
+            HirKind::Capture(ref x) if x.sub.kind.subs().is_empty() => return,
+            HirKind::Repetition(ref x) if x.sub.kind.subs().is_empty() => {
+                return
+            }
+            HirKind::Concat(ref x) if x.is_empty() => return,
+            HirKind::Alternation(ref x) if x.is_empty() => return,
+            _ => {}
+        }
+
+        let mut stack = vec![mem::replace(self, Hir::empty())];
+        while let Some(mut expr) = stack.pop() {
+            match expr.kind {
+                HirKind::Empty
+                | HirKind::Char(_)
+                | HirKind::Class(_)
+                | HirKind::Look(_) => {}
+                HirKind::Capture(ref mut x) => {
+                    stack.push(mem::replace(&mut x.sub, Hir::empty()));
+                }
+                HirKind::Repetition(ref mut x) => {
+                    stack.push(mem::replace(&mut x.sub, Hir::empty()));
+                }
+                HirKind::Concat(ref mut x) => {
+                    stack.extend(x.drain(..));
+                }
+                HirKind::Alternation(ref mut x) => {
+                    stack.extend(x.drain(..));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/regex-lite/src/hir/parse.rs b/regex-lite/src/hir/parse.rs
index 0dcccdd46..ca93b8838 100644
--- a/regex-lite/src/hir/parse.rs
+++ b/regex-lite/src/hir/parse.rs
@@ -1328,8 +1328,10 @@ fn into_class_item_range(hir: Hir) -> Result<char, Error> {
     }
 }
 
-fn into_class_item_ranges(hir: Hir) -> Result<Vec<hir::ClassRange>, Error> {
-    match hir.kind {
+fn into_class_item_ranges(
+    mut hir: Hir,
+) -> Result<Vec<hir::ClassRange>, Error> {
+    match core::mem::replace(&mut hir.kind, HirKind::Empty) {
         HirKind::Char(ch) => Ok(vec![hir::ClassRange { start: ch, end: ch }]),
         HirKind::Class(hir::Class { ranges }) => Ok(ranges),
         _ => Err(Error::new(ERR_CLASS_INVALID_ITEM)),
diff --git a/regex-lite/tests/fuzz/mod.rs b/regex-lite/tests/fuzz/mod.rs
index 747aab040..5a721f142 100644
--- a/regex-lite/tests/fuzz/mod.rs
+++ b/regex-lite/tests/fuzz/mod.rs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ fn captures_wrong_order_min() {
 #[test]
 fn many_zero_to_many_reps() {
     let pat = format!(".{}", "*".repeat(1 << 15));
-    let Ok(re) = regex_lite::RegexBuilder::new(&pat).build() else { return };
+    let Ok(re) = regex_lite::Regex::new(&pat) else { return };
     re.is_match("");
 }