True... $ python Python 2.7.10 (default, Oct 14 2015, 16:09:02) [GCC 5.2.1 20151010] on linux2 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> import re >>> re._MAXCACHE 100 But 100 is still large enough that for most normal users/uses re-compilation is pointless.