diff --git a/grep.c b/grep.c
index bf6c2494fd4..18306bc605d 100644
--- a/grep.c
+++ b/grep.c
@@ -321,6 +321,18 @@ static NORETURN void compile_regexp_failed(const struct grep_pat *p,
 	die("%s'%s': %s", where, p->pattern, error);
 }
 
+static int has_null(const char *s, size_t len)
+{
+	/*
+	 * regcomp cannot accept patterns with NULs so when using it
+	 * we consider any pattern containing a NUL fixed.
+	 */
+	if (memchr(s, 0, len))
+		return 1;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 #ifdef USE_LIBPCRE
 static void compile_pcre_regexp(struct grep_pat *p, const struct grep_opt *opt)
 {
@@ -394,12 +406,6 @@ static int is_fixed(const char *s, size_t len)
 {
 	size_t i;
 
-	/* regcomp cannot accept patterns with NULs so we
-	 * consider any pattern containing a NUL fixed.
-	 */
-	if (memchr(s, 0, len))
-		return 1;
-
 	for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
 		if (is_regex_special(s[i]))
 			return 0;
@@ -451,7 +457,9 @@ static void compile_regexp(struct grep_pat *p, struct grep_opt *opt)
 	 * simple string match using kws.  p->fixed tells us if we
 	 * want to use kws.
 	 */
-	if (opt->fixed || is_fixed(p->pattern, p->patternlen))
+	if (opt->fixed ||
+	    has_null(p->pattern, p->patternlen) ||
+	    is_fixed(p->pattern, p->patternlen))
 		p->fixed = !icase || ascii_only;
 	else
 		p->fixed = 0;