diff --git a/editors/sed.c b/editors/sed.c
index 9e4a002d8..21f868167 100644
--- a/editors/sed.c
+++ b/editors/sed.c
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ static const char sed_usage[] =
 #endif
 	;
 
+#if 0
 static void destroy_cmd_strs()
 {
 	if (sed_cmds == NULL)
@@ -125,6 +126,7 @@ static void destroy_cmd_strs()
 	free(sed_cmds);
 	sed_cmds = NULL;
 }
+#endif
 
 /*
  * trim_str - trims leading and trailing space from a string
@@ -199,10 +201,7 @@ static int get_address(const char *str, int *line, regex_t **regex)
 			fatalError("unterminated match expression\n");
 		my_str[idx] = '\0';
 		*regex = (regex_t *)xmalloc(sizeof(regex_t));
-		if (bb_regcomp(*regex, my_str+1, REG_NEWLINE) != 0) {
-			free(my_str);
-			exit(1);
-		}
+		xregcomp(*regex, my_str+1, REG_NEWLINE);
 	}
 	else {
 		fprintf(stderr, "sed.c:get_address: no address found in string\n");
@@ -291,10 +290,7 @@ static void parse_cmd_str(struct sed_cmd *sed_cmd, const char *cmdstr)
 			
 		/* compile the regex */
 		sed_cmd->sub_match = (regex_t *)xmalloc(sizeof(regex_t));
-		if (bb_regcomp(sed_cmd->sub_match, match, cflags) != 0) {
-			free(match);
-			exit(1);
-		}
+		xregcomp(sed_cmd->sub_match, match, cflags);
 		free(match);
 	}
 }
@@ -460,11 +456,13 @@ extern int sed_main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (argv[1] && (strcmp(argv[1], "--help") == 0))
 		usage(sed_usage);
 
+#if 0
 	/* destroy command strings on exit */
 	if (atexit(destroy_cmd_strs) == -1) {
 		perror("sed");
 		exit(1);
 	}
+#endif
 
 	/* do normal option parsing */
 	while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "Vhne:f:")) > 0) {
diff --git a/findutils/grep.c b/findutils/grep.c
index dec365f05..77b510002 100644
--- a/findutils/grep.c
+++ b/findutils/grep.c
@@ -146,8 +146,7 @@ extern int grep_main(int argc, char **argv)
 	reflags = REG_NOSUB | REG_NEWLINE; 
 	if (ignore_case)
 		reflags |= REG_ICASE;
-	if (bb_regcomp(&regex, argv[optind], reflags) != 0)
-		exit(1);
+	xregcomp(&regex, argv[optind], reflags);
 
 	/* argv[(optind+1)..(argc-1)] should be names of file to grep through. If
 	 * there is more than one file to grep, we will print the filenames */
diff --git a/grep.c b/grep.c
index dec365f05..77b510002 100644
--- a/grep.c
+++ b/grep.c
@@ -146,8 +146,7 @@ extern int grep_main(int argc, char **argv)
 	reflags = REG_NOSUB | REG_NEWLINE; 
 	if (ignore_case)
 		reflags |= REG_ICASE;
-	if (bb_regcomp(&regex, argv[optind], reflags) != 0)
-		exit(1);
+	xregcomp(&regex, argv[optind], reflags);
 
 	/* argv[(optind+1)..(argc-1)] should be names of file to grep through. If
 	 * there is more than one file to grep, we will print the filenames */
diff --git a/internal.h b/internal.h
index 44c2e81ac..e636e18ce 100644
--- a/internal.h
+++ b/internal.h
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ extern int find_real_root_device_name(char* name);
 extern char *get_line_from_file(FILE *file);
 extern char process_escape_sequence(char **ptr);
 extern char *get_last_path_component(char *path);
-extern int bb_regcomp(regex_t *preg, const char *regex, int cflags);
+extern void xregcomp(regex_t *preg, const char *regex, int cflags);
 
 extern void *xmalloc (size_t size);
 extern char *xstrdup (const char *s);
diff --git a/sed.c b/sed.c
index 9e4a002d8..21f868167 100644
--- a/sed.c
+++ b/sed.c
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ static const char sed_usage[] =
 #endif
 	;
 
+#if 0
 static void destroy_cmd_strs()
 {
 	if (sed_cmds == NULL)
@@ -125,6 +126,7 @@ static void destroy_cmd_strs()
 	free(sed_cmds);
 	sed_cmds = NULL;
 }
+#endif
 
 /*
  * trim_str - trims leading and trailing space from a string
@@ -199,10 +201,7 @@ static int get_address(const char *str, int *line, regex_t **regex)
 			fatalError("unterminated match expression\n");
 		my_str[idx] = '\0';
 		*regex = (regex_t *)xmalloc(sizeof(regex_t));
-		if (bb_regcomp(*regex, my_str+1, REG_NEWLINE) != 0) {
-			free(my_str);
-			exit(1);
-		}
+		xregcomp(*regex, my_str+1, REG_NEWLINE);
 	}
 	else {
 		fprintf(stderr, "sed.c:get_address: no address found in string\n");
@@ -291,10 +290,7 @@ static void parse_cmd_str(struct sed_cmd *sed_cmd, const char *cmdstr)
 			
 		/* compile the regex */
 		sed_cmd->sub_match = (regex_t *)xmalloc(sizeof(regex_t));
-		if (bb_regcomp(sed_cmd->sub_match, match, cflags) != 0) {
-			free(match);
-			exit(1);
-		}
+		xregcomp(sed_cmd->sub_match, match, cflags);
 		free(match);
 	}
 }
@@ -460,11 +456,13 @@ extern int sed_main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (argv[1] && (strcmp(argv[1], "--help") == 0))
 		usage(sed_usage);
 
+#if 0
 	/* destroy command strings on exit */
 	if (atexit(destroy_cmd_strs) == -1) {
 		perror("sed");
 		exit(1);
 	}
+#endif
 
 	/* do normal option parsing */
 	while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "Vhne:f:")) > 0) {
diff --git a/utility.c b/utility.c
index 6d1e1d4bb..61f67618d 100644
--- a/utility.c
+++ b/utility.c
@@ -1722,18 +1722,15 @@ char *get_last_path_component(char *path)
 #endif
 
 #if defined BB_GREP || defined BB_SED
-int bb_regcomp(regex_t *preg, const char *regex, int cflags)
+void xregcomp(regex_t *preg, const char *regex, int cflags)
 {
 	int ret;
 	if ((ret = regcomp(preg, regex, cflags)) != 0) {
 		int errmsgsz = regerror(ret, preg, NULL, 0);
 		char *errmsg = xmalloc(errmsgsz);
 		regerror(ret, preg, errmsg, errmsgsz);
-		errorMsg("bb_regcomp: %s\n", errmsg);
-		free(errmsg);
-		regfree(preg);
+		fatalError("bb_regcomp: %s\n", errmsg);
 	}
-	return ret;
 }
 #endif