diff --git a/src/exec.rs b/src/exec.rs
index 51350dd675..29d614fddd 100644
--- a/src/exec.rs
+++ b/src/exec.rs
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ impl ExecBuilder {
                     .ignore_whitespace(self.options.ignore_whitespace)
                     .unicode(self.options.unicode)
                     .allow_invalid_utf8(!self.only_utf8)
+                    .nest_limit(self.options.nest_limit)
                     .build();
             let expr = try!(parser.parse(pat));
             bytes = bytes || !expr.is_always_utf8();
diff --git a/src/re_builder.rs b/src/re_builder.rs
index 56dac2704e..ae60ecffa4 100644
--- a/src/re_builder.rs
+++ b/src/re_builder.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ pub struct RegexOptions {
     pub pats: Vec<String>,
     pub size_limit: usize,
     pub dfa_size_limit: usize,
+    pub nest_limit: u32,
     pub case_insensitive: bool,
     pub multi_line: bool,
     pub dot_matches_new_line: bool,
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ impl Default for RegexOptions {
             pats: vec![],
             size_limit: 10 * (1<<20),
             dfa_size_limit: 2 * (1<<20),
+            nest_limit: 250,
             case_insensitive: false,
             multi_line: false,
             dot_matches_new_line: false,
@@ -163,6 +165,36 @@ impl RegexBuilder {
         self.0.dfa_size_limit = limit;
         self
     }
+
+    /// Set the nesting limit for this parser.
+    ///
+    /// The nesting limit controls how deep the abstract syntax tree is allowed
+    /// to be. If the AST exceeds the given limit (e.g., with too many nested
+    /// groups), then an error is returned by the parser.
+    ///
+    /// The purpose of this limit is to act as a heuristic to prevent stack
+    /// overflow for consumers that do structural induction on an `Ast` using
+    /// explicit recursion. While this crate never does this (instead using
+    /// constant stack space and moving the call stack to the heap), other
+    /// crates may.
+    ///
+    /// This limit is not checked until the entire Ast is parsed. Therefore,
+    /// if callers want to put a limit on the amount of heap space used, then
+    /// they should impose a limit on the length, in bytes, of the concrete
+    /// pattern string. In particular, this is viable since this parser
+    /// implementation will limit itself to heap space proportional to the
+    /// lenth of the pattern string.
+    ///
+    /// Note that a nest limit of `0` will return a nest limit error for most
+    /// patterns but not all. For example, a nest limit of `0` permits `a` but
+    /// not `ab`, since `ab` requires a concatenation, which results in a nest
+    /// depth of `1`. In general, a nest limit is not something that manifests
+    /// in an obvious way in the concrete syntax, therefore, it should not be
+    /// used in a granular way.
+    pub fn nest_limit(&mut self, limit: u32) -> &mut RegexBuilder {
+        self.0.nest_limit = limit;
+        self
+    }
 }
         }
     }
@@ -274,6 +306,37 @@ impl RegexSetBuilder {
         self.0.dfa_size_limit = limit;
         self
     }
+
+    /// Set the nesting limit for this parser.
+    ///
+    /// The nesting limit controls how deep the abstract syntax tree is allowed
+    /// to be. If the AST exceeds the given limit (e.g., with too many nested
+    /// groups), then an error is returned by the parser.
+    ///
+    /// The purpose of this limit is to act as a heuristic to prevent stack
+    /// overflow for consumers that do structural induction on an `Ast` using
+    /// explicit recursion. While this crate never does this (instead using
+    /// constant stack space and moving the call stack to the heap), other
+    /// crates may.
+    ///
+    /// This limit is not checked until the entire Ast is parsed. Therefore,
+    /// if callers want to put a limit on the amount of heap space used, then
+    /// they should impose a limit on the length, in bytes, of the concrete
+    /// pattern string. In particular, this is viable since this parser
+    /// implementation will limit itself to heap space proportional to the
+    /// lenth of the pattern string.
+    ///
+    /// Note that a nest limit of `0` will return a nest limit error for most
+    /// patterns but not all. For example, a nest limit of `0` permits `a` but
+    /// not `ab`, since `ab` requires a concatenation, which results in a nest
+    /// depth of `1`. In general, a nest limit is not something that manifests
+    /// in an obvious way in the concrete syntax, therefore, it should not be
+    /// used in a granular way.
+    pub fn nest_limit(&mut self, limit: u32) -> &mut RegexSetBuilder {
+        self.0.nest_limit = limit;
+        self
+    }
+
 }
         }
     }
diff --git a/tests/crazy.rs b/tests/crazy.rs
index 207466c23f..02d058f1ae 100644
--- a/tests/crazy.rs
+++ b/tests/crazy.rs
@@ -103,3 +103,300 @@ fn dfa_handles_pathological_case() {
     };
     assert!(re.is_match(text!(&*text)));
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn nest_limit_makes_it_parse() {
+    use regex::RegexBuilder;
+
+    RegexBuilder::new(
+        r#"
+        2(?:
+          [45]\d{3}|
+          7(?:
+            1[0-267]|
+            2[0-289]|
+            3[0-29]|
+            4[01]|
+            5[1-3]|
+            6[013]|
+            7[0178]|
+            91
+          )|
+          8(?:
+            0[125]|
+            [139][1-6]|
+            2[0157-9]|
+            41|
+            6[1-35]|
+            7[1-5]|
+            8[1-8]|
+            90
+          )|
+          9(?:
+            0[0-2]|
+            1[0-4]|
+            2[568]|
+            3[3-6]|
+            5[5-7]|
+            6[0167]|
+            7[15]|
+            8[0146-9]
+          )
+        )\d{4}|
+        3(?:
+          12?[5-7]\d{2}|
+          0(?:
+            2(?:
+              [025-79]\d|
+              [348]\d{1,2}
+            )|
+            3(?:
+              [2-4]\d|
+              [56]\d?
+            )
+          )|
+          2(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              [12]\d|
+              [35]\d{1,2}|
+              4\d?
+            )
+          )|
+          3(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              [2356]\d|
+              4\d{1,2}
+            )
+          )|
+          4(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              2\d{1,2}|
+              [47]|
+              5\d{2}
+            )
+          )|
+          5(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            29
+          )|
+          [67]1\d{2}|
+          8(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              2\d{2}|
+              3|
+              4\d
+            )
+          )
+        )\d{3}|
+        4(?:
+          0(?:
+            2(?:
+              [09]\d|
+              7
+            )|
+            33\d{2}
+          )|
+          1\d{3}|
+          2(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              [25]\d?|
+              [348]\d|
+              [67]\d{1,2}
+            )
+          )|
+          3(?:
+            1\d{2}(?:
+              \d{2}
+            )?|
+            2(?:
+              [045]\d|
+              [236-9]\d{1,2}
+            )|
+            32\d{2}
+          )|
+          4(?:
+            [18]\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              [2-46]\d{2}|
+              3
+            )|
+            5[25]\d{2}
+          )|
+          5(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              3\d|
+              5
+            )
+          )|
+          6(?:
+            [18]\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              3(?:
+                \d{2}
+              )?|
+              [46]\d{1,2}|
+              5\d{2}|
+              7\d
+            )|
+            5(?:
+              3\d?|
+              4\d|
+              [57]\d{1,2}|
+              6\d{2}|
+              8
+            )
+          )|
+          71\d{2}|
+          8(?:
+            [18]\d{2}|
+            23\d{2}|
+            54\d{2}
+          )|
+          9(?:
+            [18]\d{2}|
+            2[2-5]\d{2}|
+            53\d{1,2}
+          )
+        )\d{3}|
+        5(?:
+          02[03489]\d{2}|
+          1\d{2}|
+          2(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              2(?:
+                \d{2}
+              )?|
+              [457]\d{2}
+            )
+          )|
+          3(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              [37](?:
+                \d{2}
+              )?|
+              [569]\d{2}
+            )
+          )|
+          4(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2[46]\d{2}
+          )|
+          5(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            26\d{1,2}
+          )|
+          6(?:
+            [18]\d{2}|
+            2|
+            53\d{2}
+          )|
+          7(?:
+            1|
+            24
+          )\d{2}|
+          8(?:
+            1|
+            26
+          )\d{2}|
+          91\d{2}
+        )\d{3}|
+        6(?:
+          0(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2(?:
+              3\d{2}|
+              4\d{1,2}
+            )
+          )|
+          2(?:
+            2[2-5]\d{2}|
+            5(?:
+              [3-5]\d{2}|
+              7
+            )|
+            8\d{2}
+          )|
+          3(?:
+            1|
+            2[3478]
+          )\d{2}|
+          4(?:
+            1|
+            2[34]
+          )\d{2}|
+          5(?:
+            1|
+            2[47]
+          )\d{2}|
+          6(?:
+            [18]\d{2}|
+            6(?:
+              2(?:
+                2\d|
+                [34]\d{2}
+              )|
+              5(?:
+                [24]\d{2}|
+                3\d|
+                5\d{1,2}
+              )
+            )
+          )|
+          72[2-5]\d{2}|
+          8(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2[2-5]\d{2}
+          )|
+          9(?:
+            1\d{2}|
+            2[2-6]\d{2}
+          )
+        )\d{3}|
+        7(?:
+          (?:
+            02|
+            [3-589]1|
+            6[12]|
+            72[24]
+          )\d{2}|
+          21\d{3}|
+          32
+        )\d{3}|
+        8(?:
+          (?:
+            4[12]|
+            [5-7]2|
+            1\d?
+          )|
+          (?:
+            0|
+            3[12]|
+            [5-7]1|
+            217
+          )\d
+        )\d{4}|
+        9(?:
+          [35]1|
+          (?:
+            [024]2|
+            81
+          )\d|
+          (?:
+            1|
+            [24]1
+          )\d{2}
+        )\d{3}
+        "#
+    )
+    .nest_limit(1024)
+    .build()
+    .unwrap();
+}