diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index cad8dd8f16b..6b9f6a7a7c3 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -678,6 +678,8 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(sieve,
         [AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-sieve], [disable Sieve support])],,[enable_sieve="yes";])
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(pcre,
         [AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-pcre], [disable PCRE library])],[cyrus_cv_pcre_utf8="$enableval"])
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(pcre2,
+        [AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-pcre2], [disable PCRE2 library])],[cyrus_cv_pcre2_utf8="$enableval"])
 
 if test "$enable_sieve" != "no"; then
         AC_DEFINE(USE_SIEVE,[],[Build in Sieve support?])
@@ -717,11 +719,29 @@ if test "$enable_pcre" != "no"; then
         fi
 fi
 
+if test "$enable_pcre2" != "no"; then
+        AC_CHECK_HEADER(pcre2posix.h)
+        if test "$ac_cv_header_pcre2posix_h" = "yes"; then
+            AC_MSG_CHECKING(for utf8 enabled pcre2)
+            AC_CACHE_VAL(cyrus_cv_pcre2_utf8, AC_TRY_CPP([#include <pcre2posix.h>
+#ifndef REG_UTF
+#include </nonexistent>
+#endif],cyrus_cv_pcre2_utf8=yes,cyrus_cv_pcre2_utf8=no))
+            AC_MSG_RESULT($cyrus_cv_pcre2_utf8)
+        else
+            cyrus_cv_pcre2_utf8="no"
+        fi
+fi
+
 LIB_REGEX=
 if test "$cyrus_cv_pcre_utf8" = "yes"; then
         LIB_REGEX="-lpcre -lpcreposix";
         AC_DEFINE(ENABLE_REGEX, [], [Do we have a regex library?])
         AC_DEFINE(HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H, [], [Do we have usable pcre library?])
+elif test "$cyrus_cv_pcre2_utf8" = "yes"; then
+        LIB_REGEX="-lpcre2-posix -lpcre2-8";
+        AC_DEFINE(ENABLE_REGEX, [], [Do we have a regex library?])
+        AC_DEFINE(HAVE_PCRE2POSIX_H, [], [Do we have usable pcre2 library?])
 else
         AC_CHECK_HEADERS(rxposix.h)
         if test "$ac_cv_header_rxposix_h" = "yes"; then
@@ -2569,6 +2589,7 @@ External dependencies:
    zlib:               $with_zlib
    jansson:            $with_jansson
    pcre:               $cyrus_cv_pcre_utf8
+   pcre2:              $cyrus_cv_pcre2_utf8
    clamav:             $with_clamav
    -----------------------
    caringo:            $with_caringo
diff --git a/docsrc/assets/cyrus-build-devpkg.rst b/docsrc/assets/cyrus-build-devpkg.rst
index cf3eaef1b36..5c0156bb645 100644
--- a/docsrc/assets/cyrus-build-devpkg.rst
+++ b/docsrc/assets/cyrus-build-devpkg.rst
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ automated test facility.
         debhelper flex g++ git gperf groff heimdal-dev libbsd-resource-perl libclone-perl libconfig-inifiles-perl \
         libcunit1-dev libdatetime-perl libbsd-dev libdigest-sha-perl libencode-imaputf7-perl \ libfile-chdir-perl libglib2.0-dev libical-dev libio-socket-inet6-perl \
         libio-stringy-perl libldap2-dev libmysqlclient-dev \
-        libnet-server-perl libnews-nntpclient-perl libpam0g-dev libpcre3-dev libsasl2-dev \
+        libnet-server-perl libnews-nntpclient-perl libpam0g-dev libpcre2-dev libsasl2-dev \
         libsqlite3-dev libssl-dev libtest-unit-perl libtool libunix-syslog-perl liburi-perl \
         libxapian-dev libxml-generator-perl libxml-xpath-perl libxml2-dev libwrap0-dev libzephyr-dev lsb-base \
         net-tools perl php-cli php-curl pkg-config po-debconf tcl-dev \
diff --git a/docsrc/assets/cyrus-build-reqpkg.rst b/docsrc/assets/cyrus-build-reqpkg.rst
index a3a530cc397..1c8bb459512 100644
--- a/docsrc/assets/cyrus-build-reqpkg.rst
+++ b/docsrc/assets/cyrus-build-reqpkg.rst
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 
     sudo apt-get install git build-essential autoconf automake libtool \
         pkg-config bison flex libssl-dev libjansson-dev libxml2-dev \
-        libsqlite3-dev libical-dev libsasl2-dev libpcre3-dev uuid-dev \
+        libsqlite3-dev libical-dev libsasl2-dev libpcre2-dev uuid-dev \
         libicu-dev
     sudo apt-get -t jessie-backports install libxapian-dev
diff --git a/docsrc/imap/developer/compiling.rst b/docsrc/imap/developer/compiling.rst
index e05f3e43b17..2a351df5b1f 100644
--- a/docsrc/imap/developer/compiling.rst
+++ b/docsrc/imap/developer/compiling.rst
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ Other
     to enable **ptloader** to interface with LDAP directly, for canonification
     of login usernames to mailbox names, and verification of login usernames,
     ACL subjects and group membership. Configure option: ``--with-ldap``."
-    `pcre`_, libpcre3-dev, pcre-devel, "yes", "PCRE 1 (8.x) - for utf-8/unicode
+    `pcre2`_, libpcre2-dev, pcre2-devel, "yes", "PCRE 2 (10.x) - for utf-8/unicode
     regular expression matching. Could be replaced by something else in the
     future. See `issues/1731`_ for more information."
     `perl(Term::ReadLine)`_,,, "no", "Perl library needed by **cyradm**."
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ Other
 .. _nghttp2: https://nghttp2.org/
 .. _openldap: http://www.openldap.org/
 .. _pcre: http://www.pcre.org/
+.. _pcre2: http://www.pcre.org/
 .. _perl(Term::ReadLine): https://metacpan.org/pod/Term::ReadLine
 .. _perl(ExtUtils::MakeMaker): http://search.cpan.org/dist/ExtUtils-MakeMaker/
 .. _perl(Pod::POM::View::Restructured): https://metacpan.org/pod/Pod::POM::View::Restructured
diff --git a/docsrc/imap/download/upgrade.rst b/docsrc/imap/download/upgrade.rst
index 353a0114b80..09db9232b78 100644
--- a/docsrc/imap/download/upgrade.rst
+++ b/docsrc/imap/download/upgrade.rst
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ packages) for Debian is::
     libcunit1-dev libdatetime-perl libdigest-sha-perl libencode-imaputf7-perl \
     libfile-chdir-perl libglib2.0-dev libical-dev libio-socket-inet6-perl \
     libio-stringy-perl libjansson-dev libldap2-dev libmysqlclient-dev \
-    libnet-server-perl libnews-nntpclient-perl libpam0g-dev libpcre3-dev \
+    libnet-server-perl libnews-nntpclient-perl libpam0g-dev libpcre2-dev \
     libsasl2-dev libsqlite3-dev libssl-dev libtest-unit-perl libtool \
     libunix-syslog-perl liburi-perl libxapian-dev libxml-generator-perl \
     libxml-xpath-perl libxml2-dev libwrap0-dev libzephyr-dev lsb-base \
diff --git a/imap/cyr_buildinfo.c b/imap/cyr_buildinfo.c
index 3d596c726aa..a011101993f 100644
--- a/imap/cyr_buildinfo.c
+++ b/imap/cyr_buildinfo.c
@@ -202,6 +202,11 @@ static json_t *buildinfo()
 #else
     json_object_set_new(dependency, "pcre", json_false());
 #endif
+#if defined(ENABLE_REGEX) && defined(HAVE_PCRE2POSIX_H)
+    json_object_set_new(dependency, "pcre2", json_true());
+#else
+    json_object_set_new(dependency, "pcre2", json_false());
+#endif
 #ifdef HAVE_CLAMAV
     json_object_set_new(dependency, "clamav", json_true());
 #else
diff --git a/lib/util.h b/lib/util.h
index 7f7ab9f6555..6cdd95a2717 100644
--- a/lib/util.h
+++ b/lib/util.h
@@ -71,17 +71,20 @@
 extern const char CYRUS_VERSION[];
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_REGEX
-# ifdef HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H
+# if defined HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H
 #  include <pcre.h>
 #  include <pcreposix.h>
-# else /* !HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H */
-#  ifdef HAVE_RXPOSIX_H
-#   include <rxposix.h>
-#  else /* !HAVE_RXPOSIX_H */
-#   include <regex.h>
-#  endif /* HAVE_RXPOSIX_H */
-# endif /* HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H */
-#endif /* ENABLE_REGEX */
+# elif defined HAVE_PCRE2POSIX_H
+#  ifndef PCRE2POSIX_H_INCLUDED
+#   include <pcre2posix.h>
+#   define PCRE2POSIX_H_INCLUDED
+#  endif
+# elif defined HAVE_RXPOSIX_H
+#  include <rxposix.h>
+# else
+#  include <regex.h>
+# endif
+#endif
 
 #ifdef HAVE_LIBUUID
 #include <uuid/uuid.h>
diff --git a/ptclient/test3.c b/ptclient/test3.c
index 0d61ff49d58..637c20eb3e0 100644
--- a/ptclient/test3.c
+++ b/ptclient/test3.c
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
  * test ptsmodule_standard_root_dn
- * gcc -lz -lpcreposix -I.. -I ../lib ../lib/.libs/util.o ../lib/.libs/xmalloc.o ../lib/.libs/map_shared.o ../lib/.libs/retry.o ../lib/.libs/assert.o test3.c
+ * gcc -I.. -I ../lib ../lib/.libs/util.o ../lib/.libs/xmalloc.o ../lib/.libs/map_shared.o ../lib/.libs/retry.o ../lib/.libs/assert.o test3.c -lz -lpcre2-posix 
  */
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
diff --git a/sieve/bc_eval.c b/sieve/bc_eval.c
index 17241e166f8..67d39355fab 100644
--- a/sieve/bc_eval.c
+++ b/sieve/bc_eval.c
@@ -321,9 +321,11 @@ static int regcomp_flags(int comparator, int requires)
 {
     int cflags = REG_EXTENDED;
 
-#ifdef HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H
     /* support UTF8 comparisons */
+#if defined HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H
     cflags |= REG_UTF8;
+#elif defined HAVE_PCRE2POSIX_H
+    cflags |= REG_UTF;
 #endif
 
     if (comparator == B_ASCIICASEMAP) {
diff --git a/sieve/comparator.h b/sieve/comparator.h
index b043bc296be..8c58bd1e734 100644
--- a/sieve/comparator.h
+++ b/sieve/comparator.h
@@ -47,17 +47,20 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_REGEX
-# ifdef HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H
+# if defined HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H
 #  include <pcre.h>
 #  include <pcreposix.h>
-# else /* !HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H */
-#  ifdef HAVE_RXPOSIX_H
-#   include <rxposix.h>
-#  else /* !HAVE_RXPOSIX_H */
-#   include <regex.h>
-#  endif /* HAVE_RXPOSIX_H */
-# endif /* HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H */
-#endif /* ENABLE_REGEX */
+# elif defined HAVE_PCRE2POSIX_H
+#  ifndef PCRE2POSIX_H_INCLUDED
+#   include <pcre2posix.h>
+#   define PCRE2POSIX_H_INCLUDED
+#  endif
+# elif defined HAVE_RXPOSIX_H
+#  include <rxposix.h>
+# else
+#  include <regex.h>
+# endif
+#endif
 
 #include "sieve_interface.h"
 #include "strarray.h"
diff --git a/sieve/sieve.y b/sieve/sieve.y
index 71aa503bd3e..17adb65112c 100644
--- a/sieve/sieve.y
+++ b/sieve/sieve.y
@@ -2143,9 +2143,11 @@ static int verify_regexlist(sieve_script_t *sscript,
     regex_t reg;
     int cflags = REG_EXTENDED | REG_NOSUB;
 
-#ifdef HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H
     /* support UTF8 comparisons */
+#if defined HAVE_PCREPOSIX_H
     cflags |= REG_UTF8;
+#elif defined HAVE_PCRE2POSIX_H
+    cflags |= REG_UTF;
 #endif
 
     if (collation == B_ASCIICASEMAP) {