my $regexp; foreach( @regexps ) # Your regexps, from file. { eval "\$regexp = qr/$_/;" or die "Regexp error with regexp '$_': $@"; # ... use the regexp, it has passed QC: &do_stuff() if( $testline =~ $regexp ); } #### Regexp error with regexp '\s//': Search pattern not terminated at (eval 2) line 1 #### if( eval "\$regexp = qr/$_/;" ) { # Use regexp } else { warn "Regexp error with regexp '$_': $@"; }