diff --git a/bindings/ruby/extconf.rb b/bindings/ruby/extconf.rb
index 8271deb3..61b51da9 100644
--- a/bindings/ruby/extconf.rb
+++ b/bindings/ruby/extconf.rb
@@ -61,6 +61,13 @@ osdir = "../../src/os/#{os}"
 $CPPFLAGS += ' -I../../include' + ' -I' + osdir
 $CPPFLAGS += ' -U_FILE_OFFSET_BITS' unless is_win32
 
+if RUBY_VERSION > '1.8.4'
+  $CPPFLAGS += ' -DRB_HAS_RE_ERROR'
+end
+if RUBY_VERSION >= '1.9.0'
+  $CPPFLAGS += ' -DRB_RUBY_19'
+end
+
 #incase of nfs shared dir...
 unless is_win32
   if File.exist?('Makefile')
diff --git a/bindings/ruby/rbsigar.c b/bindings/ruby/rbsigar.c
index 4464ec71..2852faf1 100644
--- a/bindings/ruby/rbsigar.c
+++ b/bindings/ruby/rbsigar.c
@@ -17,8 +17,12 @@
  */
 
 #include <ruby.h>
-#include <version.h>
-#include <regex.h>
+#ifdef RB_RUBY_19
+#include <ruby/re.h>
+#else
+#include <re.h>
+#endif
+
 #include <errno.h>
 #include "sigar.h"
 #include "sigar_fileinfo.h"
@@ -37,7 +41,7 @@
 #define RSTRING_LEN(s) RSTRING(s)->len
 #endif
 
-#if (RUBY_VERSION_MAJOR >= 1) && ((RUBY_VERSION_MINOR == 8) && (RUBY_VERSION_TEENY >= 6))
+#ifdef RB_HAS_RE_ERROR
 #  define RB_REGEX_ERROR rb_eRegexpError
 #else
 #  define RB_REGEX_ERROR rb_eArgError
@@ -53,6 +57,10 @@ static sigar_t *rb_sigar_get(VALUE obj)
 static int rbsigar_ptql_re_impl(void *data,
                                 char *haystack, char *needle)
 {
+#ifdef RB_RUBY_19
+    /* XXX no more regex.h */
+    return 0;
+#else
     struct re_pattern_buffer *regex;
     int len = strlen(haystack);
     int retval;
@@ -70,6 +78,7 @@ static int rbsigar_ptql_re_impl(void *data,
     retval = re_match(regex, haystack, len, 0, NULL);
     re_free_pattern(regex);
     return retval > 0;
+#endif
 }
 
 #define sigar_isdigit(c) \