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:??;

In reply to Re: Re: Quirky regex bug by japhy
in thread Quirky regex bug by japhy

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.