diff --git a/src/R/RSyntax.cpp b/src/R/RSyntax.cpp
index 86b12fbe9..f3a2b2e6d 100644
--- a/src/R/RSyntax.cpp
+++ b/src/R/RSyntax.cpp
@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ RSyntax::RSyntax(QTextDocument *parent) : QSyntaxHighlighter(parent)
     HighlightingRule rule;
 
     assignmentFormat.setForeground(QColor(255,204,000));
-    rule.pattern = QRegExp("<{1,2}[-]");
+    rule.pattern = QRegularExpression("<{1,2}[-]");
     rule.format = assignmentFormat;
     highlightingRules.append(rule);
-    rule.pattern = QRegExp("[-]>{1,2}");
+    rule.pattern = QRegularExpression("[-]>{1,2}");
     rule.format = assignmentFormat;
     highlightingRules.append(rule);
 
@@ -37,14 +37,14 @@ RSyntax::RSyntax(QTextDocument *parent) : QSyntaxHighlighter(parent)
     // function: anything followed by (
     functionFormat.setForeground(Qt::cyan);
     //functionFormat.setFontItalic(true);
-    rule.pattern = QRegExp("\\b[A-Za-z0-9_\\.]+(?=[ ]*\\()");
+    rule.pattern = QRegularExpression("\\b[A-Za-z0-9_\\.]+(?=[ ]*\\()");
     rule.format = functionFormat;
     highlightingRules.append(rule);
 
     // argument: anything followed by =, but not at the start(???)
     // unfortunately look behind assertions are not supported
     argumentFormat.setFontItalic(true);
-    rule.pattern = QRegExp("[A-Za-z0-9_\\.]+(?=[ ]*=[^=])");
+    rule.pattern = QRegularExpression("[A-Za-z0-9_\\.]+(?=[ ]*=[^=])");
     rule.format = argumentFormat;
     highlightingRules.append(rule);
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ RSyntax::RSyntax(QTextDocument *parent) : QSyntaxHighlighter(parent)
     QStringList numberPatterns;
     numberPatterns << "\\b[0-9]+[\\.]?[0-9]*\\b"  << "\\b[\\.][0-9]+\\b";
     foreach (QString pattern, numberPatterns) {
-        rule.pattern = QRegExp(pattern);
+        rule.pattern = QRegularExpression(pattern);
         rule.format = numberFormat;
         highlightingRules.append(rule);
     }
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ RSyntax::RSyntax(QTextDocument *parent) : QSyntaxHighlighter(parent)
     QStringList constantPatterns;
     constantPatterns << "\\bTRUE\\b" << "\\bFALSE\\b" << "\\bNA\\b"  << "\\bNULL\\b" << "\\bInf\\b" << "\\bNaN\\b";
     foreach (QString pattern, constantPatterns) {
-        rule.pattern = QRegExp(pattern);
+        rule.pattern = QRegularExpression(pattern);
         rule.format = constantFormat;
         highlightingRules.append(rule);
     }
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ RSyntax::RSyntax(QTextDocument *parent) : QSyntaxHighlighter(parent)
             << "\\bfunction\\b" << "\\breturn\\b" << "\\bmessage\\b" 
             << "\\bwarning\\b" << "\\bstop\\b";
     foreach (QString pattern, keywordPatterns) {
-        rule.pattern = QRegExp(pattern);
+        rule.pattern = QRegularExpression(pattern);
         rule.format = keywordFormat;
         highlightingRules.append(rule);
     }
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ RSyntax::RSyntax(QTextDocument *parent) : QSyntaxHighlighter(parent)
     QStringList commonFunctionPatterns;
     commonFunctionPatterns << "\\blibrary\\b" << "\\bsource\\b" << "\\brequire\\b";
     foreach (QString pattern, commonFunctionPatterns) {
-        rule.pattern = QRegExp(pattern);
+        rule.pattern = QRegularExpression(pattern);
         rule.format = commonFunctionFormat;
         highlightingRules.append(rule);
     }
@@ -105,30 +105,30 @@ RSyntax::RSyntax(QTextDocument *parent) : QSyntaxHighlighter(parent)
     operatorPatterns << "[\\&\\@\\|\\:\\~!<>=]" << "==" << "!=";
 
     foreach (QString pattern, operatorPatterns) {
-        rule.pattern = QRegExp(pattern);
+        rule.pattern = QRegularExpression(pattern);
         rule.format = operatorFormat;
         highlightingRules.append(rule);
     }
 
     // namespace: anything followed by ::
     //namespaceFormat.setForeground(Qt::magenta);
-    //rule.pattern = QRegExp("\\b[A-Za-z0-9_\\.]+(?=::)");
+    //rule.pattern = QRegularExpression("\\b[A-Za-z0-9_\\.]+(?=::)");
     //rule.format = namespaceFormat;
     //highlightingRules.append(rule);
 
     // quotes: only activated after quotes are closed.  Does not
     // span lines.
     quotationFormat.setForeground(Qt::red);
-    rule.pattern = QRegExp("\"[^\"]*\"");
+    rule.pattern = QRegularExpression("\"[^\"]*\"");
     rule.format = quotationFormat;
     highlightingRules.append(rule);
-    rule.pattern = QRegExp("'[^']*\'");
+    rule.pattern = QRegularExpression("'[^']*\'");
     rule.format = quotationFormat;
     highlightingRules.append(rule);
 
     // comments (should override everything else)
     commentFormat.setForeground(QColor(100,149,237));
-    rule.pattern = QRegExp("#[^\n]*");
+    rule.pattern = QRegularExpression("#[^\n]*");
     rule.format = commentFormat;
     highlightingRules.append(rule);
 }
@@ -137,13 +137,14 @@ RSyntax::RSyntax(QTextDocument *parent) : QSyntaxHighlighter(parent)
 void RSyntax::highlightBlock(const QString &text)
 {
     foreach (HighlightingRule rule, highlightingRules) {
-        QRegExp expression(rule.pattern);
-        int index = text.indexOf(expression);
+        QRegularExpression expression(rule.pattern);
+        QRegularExpressionMatch match;
+        int index = text.indexOf(expression, 0, &match);
         // NB: this is index in block, not full document
         while (index >= 0) {
-            int length = expression.matchedLength();
+            int length = match.capturedLength();
             setFormat(index, length, rule.format);
-            index = text.indexOf(expression, index + length);
+            index = text.indexOf(expression, index + length, &match);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/R/RSyntax.h b/src/R/RSyntax.h
index e165c7dc6..c47cff78e 100644
--- a/src/R/RSyntax.h
+++ b/src/R/RSyntax.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 #include <QHash>
 #include <QTextCharFormat>
+#include <QRegularExpression>
 
 class QTextDocument;
 
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ class RSyntax : public QSyntaxHighlighter
 
  private:
     struct HighlightingRule {
-        QRegExp pattern;
+        QRegularExpression pattern;
         QTextCharFormat format;
     };
     QVector<HighlightingRule> highlightingRules;