diff --git a/include/maddy/italicparser.h b/include/maddy/italicparser.h
index f31b96e..ed59744 100644
--- a/include/maddy/italicparser.h
+++ b/include/maddy/italicparser.h
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public:
   void
   Parse(std::string& line) override
   {
-    std::regex re("(?!.*`.*|.*<code>.*)\\*(?!.*`.*|.*<\\/code>.*)([^\\*]*)\\*(?!.*`.*|.*<\\/code>.*)");
+    static std::regex re("(?!.*`.*|.*<code>.*)\\*(?!.*`.*|.*<\\/code>.*)([^\\*]*)\\*(?!.*`.*|.*<\\/code>.*)");
     static std::string replacement = "<i>$1</i>";
     line = std::regex_replace(line, re, replacement);
   }