diff --git a/src/normal.cc b/src/normal.cc
index c0370015..c7b074a4 100644
--- a/src/normal.cc
+++ b/src/normal.cc
@@ -973,8 +973,10 @@ void select_regex(Context& context, NormalParams params)
 
         RegisterManager::instance()[reg].set(context, ex.str());
 
+        auto& selections = context.selections();
+        auto& buffer = selections.buffer();
         if (not ex.empty() and not ex.str().empty())
-            select_all_matches(context.selections(), ex, capture);
+            selections = SelectionList{buffer, select_matches(buffer, selections, ex, capture)};
     });
 }
 
@@ -998,8 +1000,10 @@ void split_regex(Context& context, NormalParams params)
 
         RegisterManager::instance()[reg].set(context, ex.str());
 
+        auto& selections = context.selections();
+        auto& buffer = selections.buffer();
         if (not ex.empty() and not ex.str().empty())
-            split_selections(context.selections(), ex, capture);
+            selections = SelectionList{buffer, split_on_matches(buffer, selections, ex, capture)};
     });
 }
 
diff --git a/src/selection.hh b/src/selection.hh
index c08bca9c..02266528 100644
--- a/src/selection.hh
+++ b/src/selection.hh
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ struct SelectionList
 
     void remove(size_t index);
 
+    const Selection* data() const { return m_selections.data(); }
     size_t size() const { return m_selections.size(); }
 
     bool operator==(const SelectionList& other) const { return m_buffer == other.m_buffer and m_selections == other.m_selections; }
diff --git a/src/selectors.cc b/src/selectors.cc
index e33dc21e..c6bb1901 100644
--- a/src/selectors.cc
+++ b/src/selectors.cc
@@ -3,11 +3,10 @@
 #include "buffer_utils.hh"
 #include "context.hh"
 #include "flags.hh"
-#include "optional.hh"
 #include "option_types.hh"
 #include "regex.hh"
+#include "selection.hh"
 #include "string.hh"
-#include "unicode.hh"
 #include "unit_tests.hh"
 #include "utf8_iterator.hh"
 
@@ -38,6 +37,13 @@ ConstArrayView<Codepoint> get_extra_word_chars(const Context& context)
 
 }
 
+Selection keep_direction(Selection res, const Selection& ref)
+{
+    if ((res.cursor() < res.anchor()) != (ref.cursor() < ref.anchor()))
+        std::swap<BufferCoord>(res.cursor(), res.anchor());
+    return res;
+}
+
 template<WordType word_type>
 Optional<Selection>
 select_to_next_word(const Context& context, const Selection& selection)
@@ -913,14 +919,13 @@ Selection find_next_match(const Context& context, const Selection& sel, const Re
 template Selection find_next_match<RegexMode::Forward>(const Context&, const Selection&, const Regex&, bool&);
 template Selection find_next_match<RegexMode::Backward>(const Context&, const Selection&, const Regex&, bool&);
 
-void select_all_matches(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, int capture)
+Vector<Selection> select_matches(const Buffer& buffer, ConstArrayView<Selection> selections, const Regex& regex, int capture)
 {
     const int mark_count = (int)regex.mark_count();
     if (capture < 0 or capture > mark_count)
         throw runtime_error("invalid capture number");
 
     Vector<Selection> result;
-    auto& buffer = selections.buffer();
     ThreadedRegexVM<BufferIterator, RegexMode::Forward | RegexMode::Search> vm{*regex.impl()};
     for (auto& sel : selections)
     {
@@ -948,26 +953,22 @@ void select_all_matches(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, int captu
     }
     if (result.empty())
         throw runtime_error("nothing selected");
-
-    // Avoid SelectionList::operator=(Vector<Selection>) as we know result is
-    // already sorted and non overlapping.
-    selections = SelectionList{buffer, std::move(result)};
+    return result;
 }
 
-void split_selections(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, int capture)
+Vector<Selection> split_on_matches(const Buffer& buffer, ConstArrayView<Selection> selections, const Regex& regex, int capture)
 {
     if (capture < 0 or capture > (int)regex.mark_count())
         throw runtime_error("invalid capture number");
 
     Vector<Selection> result;
-    auto& buffer = selections.buffer();
     auto buf_end = buffer.end();
     auto buf_begin = buffer.begin();
     ThreadedRegexVM<BufferIterator, RegexMode::Forward | RegexMode::Search> vm{*regex.impl()};
     for (auto& sel : selections)
     {
         auto begin = buffer.iterator_at(sel.min());
-        auto sel_end = utf8::next(buffer.iterator_at(sel.max()), buffer.end());
+        auto sel_end = utf8::next(buffer.iterator_at(sel.max()), buf_end);
 
         for (auto&& match : RegexIterator{begin, sel_end, vm, match_flags(buffer, begin, sel_end)})
         {
@@ -987,8 +988,7 @@ void split_selections(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, int capture
     }
     if (result.empty())
         throw runtime_error("nothing selected");
-
-    selections = std::move(result);
+    return result;
 }
 
 UnitTest test_find_surrounding{[]()
diff --git a/src/selectors.hh b/src/selectors.hh
index 2f0b4dc7..a82e29a2 100644
--- a/src/selectors.hh
+++ b/src/selectors.hh
@@ -1,20 +1,20 @@
 #ifndef selectors_hh_INCLUDED
 #define selectors_hh_INCLUDED
 
-#include "selection.hh"
+#include "optional.hh"
+#include "meta.hh"
+#include "unicode.hh"
+#include "vector.hh"
 
 namespace Kakoune
 {
 
+class Selection;
+class Buffer;
 class Regex;
 class Context;
 
-inline Selection keep_direction(Selection res, const Selection& ref)
-{
-    if ((res.cursor() < res.anchor()) != (ref.cursor() < ref.anchor()))
-        std::swap<BufferCoord>(res.cursor(), res.anchor());
-    return res;
-}
+Selection keep_direction(Selection res, const Selection& ref);
 
 template<WordType word_type>
 Optional<Selection>
@@ -103,8 +103,13 @@ template<RegexMode mode>
 Selection find_next_match(const Context& context, const Selection& sel,
                           const Regex& regex, bool& wrapped);
 
-void select_all_matches(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, int capture = 0);
-void split_selections(SelectionList& selections, const Regex& regex, int capture = 0);
+Vector<Selection, MemoryDomain::Selections>
+select_matches(const Buffer& buffer, ConstArrayView<Selection> selections,
+               const Regex& regex, int capture = 0);
+
+Vector<Selection, MemoryDomain::Selections>
+split_on_matches(const Buffer& buffer, ConstArrayView<Selection> selections,
+                 const Regex& regex, int capture = 0);
 
 Optional<Selection>
 select_surrounding(const Context& context, const Selection& selection,