diff --git a/src/SCE/CMakeLists.txt b/src/SCE/CMakeLists.txt
index a547a5855a..f704b91883 100644
--- a/src/SCE/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/SCE/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ add_library(openscap_sce SHARED
 	"${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/common/list.c"
 	"${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/common/oscap_string.c"
 	"${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/common/oscap_buffer.c"
+	"${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/common/oscap_pcre.c"
 	"${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/common/util.c"
 )
 target_include_directories(openscap_sce PUBLIC public)
diff --git a/src/common/oscap_pcre.c b/src/common/oscap_pcre.c
index d4760fb0f3..4d958e6934 100644
--- a/src/common/oscap_pcre.c
+++ b/src/common/oscap_pcre.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
 #ifdef HAVE_PCRE2
 #define PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH 8
+#define PCRE2_ERR_BUF_SIZE 127
 #include <pcre2.h>
 #else
 #include <pcre.h>
@@ -85,27 +86,49 @@ static inline oscap_pcre_error_t _pcre_error_to_oscap_pcre(int res)
 {
 	switch (res) {
 #ifdef HAVE_PCRE2
-		case PCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH:
-			return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_NOMATCH;
-		case PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL:
-			return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_PARTIAL;
-		case PCRE2_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT:
-			return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_RECURSIONLIMIT;
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH:
+		return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_NOMATCH;
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL:
+		return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_PARTIAL;
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR1:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR2:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR3:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR4:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR5:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR6:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR7:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR8:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR9:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR10:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR11:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR12:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR13:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR14:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR15:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR16:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR17:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR18:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR19:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR20:
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR21:
+		return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_BADUTF8;
+	case PCRE2_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT:
+		return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_RECURSIONLIMIT;
 #else
-		case PCRE_ERROR_NOMATCH:
-			return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_NOMATCH;
-		case PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL:
-			return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_PARTIAL;
-		case PCRE_ERROR_BADPARTIAL:
-			return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_BADPARTIAL;
-		case PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8:
-			return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_BADUTF8;
-		case PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT:
-			return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_RECURSIONLIMIT;
+	case PCRE_ERROR_NOMATCH:
+		return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_NOMATCH;
+	case PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL:
+		return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_PARTIAL;
+	case PCRE_ERROR_BADPARTIAL:
+		return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_BADPARTIAL;
+	case PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8:
+		return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_BADUTF8;
+	case PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT:
+		return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_RECURSIONLIMIT;
 #endif
-		default:
-			dW("Unknown PCRE/PCRE2 error code: %d", res);
-			return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_UNKNOWN;
+	default:
+		dW("Unknown PCRE error code: %d", res);
+		return OSCAP_PCRE_ERR_UNKNOWN;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -115,20 +138,23 @@ oscap_pcre_t* oscap_pcre_compile(const char *pattern, oscap_pcre_options_t optio
 	oscap_pcre_t *res = malloc(sizeof(oscap_pcre_t));
 #ifdef HAVE_PCRE2
 	int errno;
-	PCRE2_SIZE erroffs;
+	PCRE2_SIZE erroffset2;
 	res->re_ctx = NULL;
-//	dW("Pat: %s", pattern);
-	res->re = pcre2_compile_8((PCRE2_SPTR)pattern, PCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATED, _oscap_pcre_opts_to_pcre(options), &errno, &erroffs, NULL);
+	dD("pcre2_compile_8: patt=%s", pattern);
+	res->re = pcre2_compile_8((PCRE2_SPTR)pattern, PCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATED, _oscap_pcre_opts_to_pcre(options), &errno, &erroffset2, NULL);
 	if (res->re == NULL) {
-		PCRE2_UCHAR8 err_msg[1024];
-		pcre2_get_error_message_8(errno, err_msg, 1024);
-		dW("pcre2_compile_8 error: %s", err_msg);
-		*erroffset = erroffs;
-		*errptr = strdup((const char*)err_msg);
+		PCRE2_UCHAR8 errmsg[PCRE2_ERR_BUF_SIZE];
+		pcre2_get_error_message_8(errno, errmsg, PCRE2_ERR_BUF_SIZE);
+		dW("pcre2_compile_8: error (at offset %d): %s", erroffset2, errmsg);
+		*erroffset = erroffset2;
+		*errptr = strdup((const char*)errmsg);
 	}
 #else
 	res->re_extra = NULL;
+	dD("pcre_compile: patt=%s", pattern);
 	res->re = pcre_compile(pattern, _oscap_pcre_opts_to_pcre(options), errptr, erroffset, NULL);
+	if (res->re == NULL)
+		dW("pcre_compile: error (at offset %d): %s", *erroffset, *errptr);
 #endif
 	if (res->re == NULL) {
 		free(res);
@@ -137,16 +163,6 @@ oscap_pcre_t* oscap_pcre_compile(const char *pattern, oscap_pcre_options_t optio
 	return res;
 }
 
-int oscap_pcre_get_first_byte(oscap_pcre_t *opcre, int *fb)
-{
-#ifdef HAVE_PCRE2
-	return pcre2_pattern_info_8(opcre->re, PCRE2_INFO_FIRSTCODEUNIT, fb);
-//	dW("PI: %d", *fb);
-#else
-	return pcre_fullinfo(opcre->re, NULL, PCRE_INFO_FIRSTBYTE, fb);
-#endif
-}
-
 void oscap_pcre_optimize(oscap_pcre_t *opcre)
 {
 #ifdef HAVE_PCRE2
@@ -169,7 +185,6 @@ void oscap_pcre_set_match_limit_recursion(oscap_pcre_t *opcre, unsigned long lim
 	if (opcre->re_ctx == NULL) {
 		opcre->re_ctx = pcre2_match_context_create_8(NULL);
 	}
-//	dW("LIM: %d", limit);
 	pcre2_set_depth_limit_8(opcre->re_ctx, limit);
 #else
 	if (opcre->re_extra == NULL) {
@@ -187,26 +202,28 @@ int oscap_pcre_exec(const oscap_pcre_t *opcre, const char *subject,
 {
 	int rc = 0;
 #ifdef HAVE_PCRE2
-	pcre2_match_data_8 *mdata = pcre2_match_data_create_8(ovecsize/3, NULL);
-//	dW("Subj: %s", subject);
+	// The ovecsize is multiplied by 3 in the code for compatibility with PCRE1
+	int ovecsize2 = ovecsize/3;
+	pcre2_match_data_8 *mdata = pcre2_match_data_create_8(ovecsize2, NULL);
+	dD("pcre2_match_8: subj=%s", subject);
 	rc = pcre2_match_8(opcre->re, (PCRE2_SPTR8)subject, length, startoffset, _oscap_pcre_opts_to_pcre(options), mdata, opcre->re_ctx);
-//	dW("RC: %d", rc);
+	dD("pcre2_match_8: rc=%d, ", rc);
 	if (rc > PCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH) {
 		PCRE2_SIZE *ovecp = pcre2_get_ovector_pointer_8(mdata);
-//		uint32_t ovecp_count = pcre2_get_ovector_count_8(mdata);
-//		dW("count: %d", ovecp_count);
+		uint32_t ovecp_count = pcre2_get_ovector_count_8(mdata);
+		dD("pcre2_match_8: pcre2_get_ovector_count_8=%d", ovecp_count);
 		for (int i = 0; i < rc; i++) {
-			if (i < ovecsize/3) {
+			if (i < ovecsize2) {
 				ovector[i*2] = ovecp[i*2];
 				ovector[i*2+1] = ovecp[i*2+1];
 			}
-//			dW("  OVECP[i]: %d", ovecp[i*2]);
-//			dW("  OVECP[i+1]: %d", ovecp[i*2+1]);
 		}
 	}
 	pcre2_match_data_free_8(mdata);
 #else
+	dD("pcre_exec: subj=%s", subject);
 	rc = pcre_exec(opcre->re, opcre->re_extra, subject, length, startoffset, _oscap_pcre_opts_to_pcre(options), ovector, ovecsize);
+	dD("pcre_exec: rc=%d, ", rc);
 #endif
 	return rc >= 0 ? rc : _pcre_error_to_oscap_pcre(rc);
 }
@@ -227,3 +244,14 @@ void oscap_pcre_free(oscap_pcre_t *opcre)
 	}
 }
 
+void oscap_pcre_err_free(char *err)
+{
+	if (err != NULL) {
+#ifdef HAVE_PCRE2
+		free(err);
+#else
+		// PCRE1 error messages are static, NOOP.
+#endif
+	}
+}
+
diff --git a/src/common/oscap_pcre.h b/src/common/oscap_pcre.h
index c971b70555..01fe76b6dd 100644
--- a/src/common/oscap_pcre.h
+++ b/src/common/oscap_pcre.h
@@ -58,6 +58,6 @@ void oscap_pcre_set_match_limit_recursion(oscap_pcre_t *opcre, unsigned long lim
 
 void oscap_pcre_optimize(oscap_pcre_t *opcre);
 
-int oscap_pcre_get_first_byte(oscap_pcre_t *opcre, int *fb);
+void oscap_pcre_err_free(char *err);
 
 #endif