diff --git a/include/regex b/include/regex
index d1afa54..27c7ecf 100644
--- a/include/regex
+++ b/include/regex
@@ -4481,7 +4481,7 @@
                 ++__first;
             }
 #ifndef _LIBCPP_NO_EXCEPTIONS
-            else if (__str)
+            else
                 throw regex_error(regex_constants::error_escape);
 #endif  // _LIBCPP_NO_EXCEPTIONS
             break;