diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 29d28051d8..a684ca9857 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -80,8 +80,9 @@ hayro-jbig2 = "0.3"
 
 # foundation
 thiserror = "2"
-# Linear-time matching (no backtracking) for caller-supplied redaction patterns.
-regex = { version = "1", default-features = false, features = ["std", "unicode"] }
+# Linear-time matching (no backtracking) for caller-supplied redaction patterns. `perf-dfa` gives
+# the lazy-DFA cache that `RegexBuilder::dfa_size_limit` bounds (the limit is inert without it).
+regex = { version = "1", default-features = false, features = ["std", "unicode", "perf-dfa"] }
 serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive", "rc"] }
 serde_json = "1"
 log = "0.4"