Yes. From the source (regcomp.c:1851):

else if (!sawopen && (OP(first) == STAR &&
    PL_regkind[(U8)OP(NEXTOPER(first))] == REG_ANY) &&
    !(r->reganch & ROPT_ANCH) )
{   
    /* turn .* into ^.* with an implied $*=1 */
    /* ... */
}
[download]

So you can see it is only for regexes starting with .* -- if you look a few lines up, you see:

/* Skip introductions and multiplicators >= 1. */
while ((OP(first) == OPEN && (sawopen = 1)) ||
    /* ... */
) { /* ... */ }
[download]

So it's ignoring the fact that the .* might actually be inside parens.

My patch consisted of the text "!sawparen &&" in the code block up top. Big patch, I know.

_____________________________________________________
Jeff[japhy]Pinyan: Perl, regex, and perl hacker.
s++=END;++y(;-P)}y js++=;shajsj<++y(p-q)}?print:??;