diff --git a/src/main/grep.c b/src/main/grep.c
index 32d8d3491d0..7e04eaf9934 100644
--- a/src/main/grep.c
+++ b/src/main/grep.c
@@ -2385,6 +2385,7 @@ gregexpr_perl(const char *pattern, const char *string,
     SEXP capturebuf, capturelenbuf;
     SEXP matchbuf, matchlenbuf; /* buffers for storing multiple matches */
     int bufsize = 1024;         /* starting size for buffers */
+    int slen = (int) strlen(string);
     PROTECT_INDEX cb, clb, mb, mlb;
 
     PROTECT_WITH_INDEX(capturebuf =
@@ -2393,9 +2394,9 @@ gregexpr_perl(const char *pattern, const char *string,
 		       allocVector(INTSXP, bufsize*capture_count), &clb);
     PROTECT_WITH_INDEX(matchbuf = allocVector(INTSXP, bufsize), &mb);
     PROTECT_WITH_INDEX(matchlenbuf = allocVector(INTSXP, bufsize), &mlb);
+
     while (!foundAll) {
-	int rc, slen = (int) strlen(string);
-	rc = pcre_exec(re_pcre, re_pe, string, slen, start, 0, ovector,
+	int rc = pcre_exec(re_pcre, re_pe, string, slen, start, 0, ovector,
 		       ovector_size);
 	pcre_exec_error(rc, n);
 	if (rc >= 0) {