diff --git a/src/dolphinpart.cpp b/src/dolphinpart.cpp
--- a/src/dolphinpart.cpp
+++ b/src/dolphinpart.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 #include <QInputDialog>
 #include <QKeyEvent>
 #include <QMenu>
+#include <QRegularExpression>
 #include <QStandardPaths>
 #include <QTextDocument>
 
@@ -506,7 +507,7 @@
     const QString pattern = QInputDialog::getText(m_view, title, text, QLineEdit::Normal, QStringLiteral("*"), &okClicked);
 
     if (okClicked && !pattern.isEmpty()) {
-        QRegExp patternRegExp(pattern, Qt::CaseSensitive, QRegExp::Wildcard);
+        QRegularExpression patternRegExp(QRegularExpression::wildcardToRegularExpression(pattern));
         m_view->selectItems(patternRegExp, selectItems);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/views/dolphinview.h b/src/views/dolphinview.h
--- a/src/views/dolphinview.h
+++ b/src/views/dolphinview.h
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
 class VersionControlObserver;
 class ViewProperties;
 class QGraphicsSceneDragDropEvent;
-class QRegExp;
+class QRegularExpression;
 
 /**
  * @short Represents a view for the directory content.
@@ -183,10 +183,16 @@
     void markUrlAsCurrent(const QUrl& url);
 
     /**
-     * All items that match to the pattern \a pattern will get selected
-     * if \a enabled is true and deselected if  \a enabled is false.
+     * All items that match the regular expression \a regexp will get selected
+     * if \a enabled is true and deselected if \a enabled is false.
+     *
+     * Note that to match the whole string the pattern should be anchored:
+     * - you can anchor the pattern with QRegularExpression::anchoredPattern()
+     * - if you use QRegulrExpresssion::wildcardToRegularExpression(), don't use
+     *   QRegularExpression::anchoredPattern() as the former already returns an
+     *   anchored pattern
      */
-    void selectItems(const QRegExp& pattern, bool enabled);
+    void selectItems(const QRegularExpression &regexp, bool enabled);
 
     /**
      * Sets the zoom level to \a level. It is assured that the used
diff --git a/src/views/dolphinview.cpp b/src/views/dolphinview.cpp
--- a/src/views/dolphinview.cpp
+++ b/src/views/dolphinview.cpp
@@ -363,16 +363,17 @@
     m_scrollToCurrentItem = true;
 }
 
-void DolphinView::selectItems(const QRegExp& pattern, bool enabled)
+void DolphinView::selectItems(const QRegularExpression &regexp, bool enabled)
 {
     const KItemListSelectionManager::SelectionMode mode = enabled
                                                         ? KItemListSelectionManager::Select
                                                         : KItemListSelectionManager::Deselect;
     KItemListSelectionManager* selectionManager = m_container->controller()->selectionManager();
 
     for (int index = 0; index < m_model->count(); index++) {
         const KFileItem item = m_model->fileItem(index);
-        if (pattern.exactMatch(item.text())) {
+        QRegularExpressionMatch match = regexp.match(item.text());
+        if (match.hasMatch()) {
             // An alternative approach would be to store the matching items in a KItemSet and
             // select them in one go after the loop, but we'd need a new function
             // KItemListSelectionManager::setSelected(KItemSet, SelectionMode mode)