diff --git a/nodes/core/logic/15-change.html b/nodes/core/logic/15-change.html
index b1ad880d8..9d8ad6652 100644
--- a/nodes/core/logic/15-change.html
+++ b/nodes/core/logic/15-change.html
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@
         <label id="node-input-t">replace with</label>
         <input type="text" id="node-input-to" placeholder="that"/>
     </div>
+    <div class="form-row" id="node-reg-row">
+        <label>&nbsp;</label>
+        <input type="checkbox" id="node-input-reg" style="display: inline-block; width: auto; vertical-align: top;">
+        <label for="node-input-reg" style="width: 70%;">Use regular expressions ?</label>
+    </div>
     <br/>
     <div class="form-row">
         <label for="node-input-name"><i class="icon-tag"></i> Name</label>
@@ -56,19 +61,9 @@
         defaults: {
             action: {value:"change",required:true},
             property: {value:"payload"},
-            from: {value:"",validate: function(v) {
-		        if (this.action == "change") {
-					try {
-		            	var re = new RegExp(this.from, "g");
-						return true;
-		            } catch(err) {
-						RED.notify("<strong>Error</strong>: "+err.message,"error");
-						return false;
-		            }
-		        } 
-		        return true;		        	
-			}},
+            from: {value:""},
             to: {value:""},
+            reg: {value:false},
             name: {value:""}
         },
         inputs: 1,
@@ -81,6 +76,7 @@
             return this.name ? "node_label_italic" : "";
         },
         oneditprepare: function() {
+            if (this.reg === null) { $("#node-input-reg").prop('checked', true); }
             $("#node-input-action").change( function() {
                 var a = $("#node-input-action").val();
                 if (a === "replace") {
@@ -89,6 +85,7 @@
                     $("#node-input-t").html("with value");
                     $("#node-from-row").hide();
                     $("#node-to-row").show();
+                    $("#node-reg-row").hide();
                     $("#node-tip").html("Tip: expects a new property name and either a fixed value OR the full name of another msg.property eg: msg.sentiment.score");
                 }
                 if (a === "delete") {
@@ -97,6 +94,7 @@
                     //$("#node-input-t").html("to");
                     $("#node-from-row").hide();
                     $("#node-to-row").hide();
+                    $("#node-reg-row").hide();
                     $("#node-tip").html("Tip: deletes the named property and all sub-properties");
                 }
                 if (a === "change") {
@@ -105,7 +103,8 @@
                     $("#node-input-t").html("replace with");
                     $("#node-from-row").show();
                     $("#node-to-row").show();
-                    $("#node-tip").html("Tip: <i>if it contains</i> can be a regex, likewise <i>replace with</i> can accept regex results. Only works on strings.");
+                    $("#node-reg-row").show();
+                    $("#node-tip").html("Tip: If <i>contains</i> is a regex, you <b>must</b> escape any special characters. Likewise <i>replace with</i> can accept regex results. Only works on strings.");
                 }
                 //if (a === "replace") {
                  //   $("#node-input-todo").html("called");
diff --git a/nodes/core/logic/15-change.js b/nodes/core/logic/15-change.js
index 5f518987f..8922bde20 100644
--- a/nodes/core/logic/15-change.js
+++ b/nodes/core/logic/15-change.js
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ function ChangeNode(n) {
     this.property = n.property || "";
     this.from = n.from || " ";
     this.to = n.to || " ";
+    this.reg = (n.reg === null || n.reg);
     var node = this;
 
     var makeNew = function( stem, path, value ) {
@@ -35,13 +36,17 @@ function ChangeNode(n) {
 
     this.on('input', function (msg) {
         if (node.action == "change") {
-			try {
-            	node.re = new RegExp(this.from, "g");
-            	if (typeof msg[node.property] === "string") {
-            		msg[node.property] = (msg[node.property]).replace(node.re, node.to);
-            	}
-            } catch(err) {
-                this.error(err.message);
+            var from = node.from;
+            if (node.reg === false) {
+                from = from.replace(/[-[\]{}()*+?.,\\^$|#\s]/g, "\\$&");
+            }
+            try {
+                node.re = new RegExp(from, "g");
+            } catch (e) {
+                node.error("Invalid regex: "+from);
+            }
+            if (typeof msg[node.property] === "string") {
+                msg[node.property] = (msg[node.property]).replace(node.re, node.to);
             }
         }
         //else if (node.action == "replace") {