diff --git a/src/commands.cc b/src/commands.cc
index 49555f88..93505450 100644
--- a/src/commands.cc
+++ b/src/commands.cc
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ void define_command(const CommandParameters& params, Context& context)
         {
              const String& prefix = token_to_complete < params.size() ?
                                     params[token_to_complete] : String();
-             return complete_filename(context.options()["ignored_files"].get<String>(), prefix, pos_in_token);
+             return complete_filename(prefix, context.options()["ignored_files"].get<Regex>(), pos_in_token);
         };
     }
     else if (parser.has_option("shell-completion"))
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ void register_commands()
 
     PerArgumentCommandCompleter filename_completer({
          [](const Context& context, const String& prefix, ByteCount cursor_pos)
-         { return complete_filename(prefix, context.options()["ignored_files"].get<String>(), cursor_pos); }
+         { return complete_filename(prefix, context.options()["ignored_files"].get<Regex>(), cursor_pos); }
     });
     cm.register_commands({ "e", "edit" }, edit<false>, filename_completer);
     cm.register_commands({ "e!", "edit!" }, edit<true>, filename_completer);
diff --git a/src/file.cc b/src/file.cc
index 2922a835..bc8ce4a8 100644
--- a/src/file.cc
+++ b/src/file.cc
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ static boost::regex make_regex_ifp(const String& ex)
 }
 
 std::vector<String> complete_filename(const String& prefix,
-                                      const String& ignored_regex,
+                                      const Regex& ignored_regex,
                                       ByteCount cursor_pos)
 {
     String real_prefix = parse_filename(prefix.substr(0, cursor_pos));
@@ -225,8 +225,6 @@ std::vector<String> complete_filename(const String& prefix,
     String dirprefix;
     String fileprefix = real_prefix;
 
-    boost::regex ignored_files = make_regex_ifp(ignored_regex);
-
     ByteCount dir_end = -1;
     for (ByteCount i = 0; i < real_prefix.length(); ++i)
     {
@@ -247,8 +245,8 @@ std::vector<String> complete_filename(const String& prefix,
     if (not dir)
         return result;
 
-    const bool check_ignored_files = not ignored_files.empty() and
-        not boost::regex_match(fileprefix.c_str(), ignored_files);
+    const bool check_ignored_regex = not ignored_regex.empty() and
+        not boost::regex_match(fileprefix.c_str(), ignored_regex);
 
     boost::regex file_regex = make_regex_ifp(fileprefix);
     std::vector<String> regex_result;
@@ -258,7 +256,7 @@ std::vector<String> complete_filename(const String& prefix,
         if (filename.empty())
             continue;
 
-        if (check_ignored_files and boost::regex_match(filename.c_str(), ignored_files))
+        if (check_ignored_regex and boost::regex_match(filename.c_str(), ignored_regex))
             continue;
 
         const bool match_prefix = (filename.substr(0, fileprefix.length()) == fileprefix);
diff --git a/src/file.hh b/src/file.hh
index eb2f79ba..7fa349c6 100644
--- a/src/file.hh
+++ b/src/file.hh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ void write_buffer_to_file(const Buffer& buffer, const String& filename);
 String find_file(const String& filename, const memoryview<String>& paths);
 
 std::vector<String> complete_filename(const String& prefix,
-                                      const String& ignore_regex,
+                                      const Regex& ignore_regex,
                                       ByteCount cursor_pos = -1);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/option_manager.cc b/src/option_manager.cc
index a78bd029..f561d685 100644
--- a/src/option_manager.cc
+++ b/src/option_manager.cc
@@ -52,6 +52,23 @@ void option_from_string(const String& str, std::vector<T>& opt)
     }
 }
 
+String option_to_string(const Regex& re)
+{
+    return String{re.str()};
+}
+
+void option_from_string(const String& str, Regex& re)
+{
+    try
+    {
+        re = Regex{str.begin(), str.end()};
+    }
+    catch (boost::regex_error& err)
+    {
+        throw runtime_error("unable to create regex: "_str + err.what());
+    }
+}
+
 }
 
 template<typename T>
@@ -124,6 +141,9 @@ template void Option::set<std::vector<int>>(const std::vector<int>&);
 template const std::vector<String>& Option::get<std::vector<String>>() const;
 template void Option::set<std::vector<String>>(const std::vector<String>&);
 
+template const Regex& Option::get<Regex>() const;
+template void Option::set<Regex>(const Regex&);
+
 OptionManager::OptionManager(OptionManager& parent)
     : m_parent(&parent)
 {
@@ -236,7 +256,7 @@ GlobalOptions::GlobalOptions()
     declare_option<String>("shell", "sh");
     declare_option<bool>("complete_prefix", true);
     declare_option<bool>("incsearch", true);
-    declare_option<String>("ignored_files", R"(^(\..*|.*\.(o|so|a))$)");
+    declare_option<Regex>("ignored_files", Regex{R"(^(\..*|.*\.(o|so|a))$)"});
     declare_option<String>("filetype", "");
     declare_option<std::vector<String>>("completions", {});
     declare_option<std::vector<String>>("path", { "./", "/usr/include" });