1 files changed, 5 insertions, 9 deletions
diff --git a/synapse/appservice/__init__.py b/synapse/appservice/__init__.py
index b0106a3597..1e298ccf36 100644
--- a/synapse/appservice/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/appservice/__init__.py
@@ -124,22 +124,18 @@ class ApplicationService(object):
                     raise ValueError(
                         "Expected bool for 'exclusive' in ns '%s'" % ns
                     )
-                if not isinstance(regex_obj.get("regex"), basestring):
+                regex = regex_obj.get("regex")
+                if isinstance(regex, basestring):
+                    regex_obj["regex"] = re.compile(regex)
+                else:
                     raise ValueError(
                         "Expected string for 'regex' in ns '%s'" % ns
                     )
         return namespaces
 
     def _matches_regex(self, test_string, namespace_key, return_obj=False):
-        if not isinstance(test_string, basestring):
-            logger.error(
-                "Expected a string to test regex against, but got %s",
-                test_string
-            )
-            return False
-
         for regex_obj in self.namespaces[namespace_key]:
-            if re.match(regex_obj["regex"], test_string):
+            if regex_obj["regex"].match(test_string):
                 if return_obj:
                     return regex_obj
                 return True