diff --git a/src/normal.cc b/src/normal.cc
index c57fbc48..af72e000 100644
--- a/src/normal.cc
+++ b/src/normal.cc
@@ -759,8 +759,8 @@ void use_selection_as_search_pattern(Context& context, NormalParams params)
 void select_regex(Context& context, NormalParams params)
 {
     const char reg = to_lower(params.reg ? params.reg : '/');
-    const unsigned capture = (unsigned)params.count;
-    auto prompt = capture ? format("select (capture {}):", (int)capture) :  "select:"_str;
+    const int capture = params.count;
+    auto prompt = capture ? format("select (capture {}):", capture) :  "select:"_str;
 
     auto reg_content = RegisterManager::instance()[reg].values(context);
     Vector<String> saved_reg{reg_content.begin(), reg_content.end()};
@@ -786,7 +786,7 @@ void select_regex(Context& context, NormalParams params)
 void split_regex(Context& context, NormalParams params)
 {
     const char reg = to_lower(params.reg ? params.reg : '/');
-    unsigned capture = (unsigned)params.count;
+    const int capture = params.count;
     auto prompt = capture ? format("split (on capture {}):", (int)capture) :  "split:"_str;
 
     auto reg_content = RegisterManager::instance()[reg].values(context);
diff --git a/src/selectors.cc b/src/selectors.cc
index 97e7fd33..598aff70 100644
--- a/src/selectors.cc
+++ b/src/selectors.cc
@@ -841,10 +841,10 @@ template Selection find_next_match<Backward>(const Buffer&, const Selection&, co
 
 using RegexIt = RegexIterator<BufferIterator>;
 
-void select_all_matches(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, unsigned capture)
+void select_all_matches(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, int capture)
 {
-    const unsigned mark_count = regex.mark_count();
-    if (capture > mark_count)
+    const int mark_count = (int)regex.mark_count();
+    if (capture < 0 or capture > mark_count)
         throw runtime_error("invalid capture number");
 
     Vector<Selection> result;
@@ -887,9 +887,9 @@ void select_all_matches(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, unsigned
     selections = SelectionList{buffer, std::move(result)};
 }
 
-void split_selections(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, unsigned capture)
+void split_selections(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, int capture)
 {
-    if (capture > regex.mark_count())
+    if (capture < 0 or capture > (int)regex.mark_count())
         throw runtime_error("invalid capture number");
 
     Vector<Selection> result;
diff --git a/src/selectors.hh b/src/selectors.hh
index 0811b8ae..6933a6b2 100644
--- a/src/selectors.hh
+++ b/src/selectors.hh
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ bool find_match_in_buffer(const Buffer& buffer, const BufferIterator pos,
 template<Direction direction>
 Selection find_next_match(const Buffer& buffer, const Selection& sel, const Regex& regex, bool& wrapped);
 
-void select_all_matches(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, unsigned capture = 0);
-void split_selections(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& separator_regex, unsigned capture = 0);
+void select_all_matches(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, int capture = 0);
+void split_selections(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& separator_regex, int capture = 0);
 
 Selection select_surrounding(const Buffer& buffer, const Selection& selection,
                              StringView opening, StringView closing, int level,