diff --git a/src/Dispatcher/CharCountBased.php b/src/Dispatcher/CharCountBased.php
index 131cca1..79a803a 100644
--- a/src/Dispatcher/CharCountBased.php
+++ b/src/Dispatcher/CharCountBased.php
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ use FastRoute\Dispatcher\Result\Matched;
 
 use function assert;
 use function end;
-use function preg_match;
 
 /** @final */
 class CharCountBased extends RegexBasedAbstract
@@ -18,7 +17,7 @@ class CharCountBased extends RegexBasedAbstract
         foreach ($routeData as $data) {
             assert(isset($data['suffix']));
 
-            if (preg_match($data['regex'], $uri . $data['suffix'], $matches) !== 1) {
+            if ($this->matchRoute($data['regex'], $uri . $data['suffix'], $matches) !== 1) {
                 continue;
             }
 
diff --git a/src/Dispatcher/GroupCountBased.php b/src/Dispatcher/GroupCountBased.php
index 2448904..9dc3546 100644
--- a/src/Dispatcher/GroupCountBased.php
+++ b/src/Dispatcher/GroupCountBased.php
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ namespace FastRoute\Dispatcher;
 use FastRoute\Dispatcher\Result\Matched;
 
 use function count;
-use function preg_match;
 
 /** @final */
 class GroupCountBased extends RegexBasedAbstract
@@ -15,7 +14,7 @@ class GroupCountBased extends RegexBasedAbstract
     protected function dispatchVariableRoute(array $routeData, string $uri): ?Matched
     {
         foreach ($routeData as $data) {
-            if (preg_match($data['regex'], $uri, $matches) !== 1) {
+            if ($this->matchRoute($data['regex'], $uri, $matches) !== 1) {
                 continue;
             }
 
diff --git a/src/Dispatcher/GroupPosBased.php b/src/Dispatcher/GroupPosBased.php
index d2eebf5..b78be01 100644
--- a/src/Dispatcher/GroupPosBased.php
+++ b/src/Dispatcher/GroupPosBased.php
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ namespace FastRoute\Dispatcher;
 use FastRoute\Dispatcher\Result\Matched;
 
 use function assert;
-use function preg_match;
 
 /** @final */
 class GroupPosBased extends RegexBasedAbstract
@@ -15,7 +14,7 @@ class GroupPosBased extends RegexBasedAbstract
     protected function dispatchVariableRoute(array $routeData, string $uri): ?Matched
     {
         foreach ($routeData as $data) {
-            if (preg_match($data['regex'], $uri, $matches) !== 1) {
+            if ($this->matchRoute($data['regex'], $uri, $matches) !== 1) {
                 continue;
             }
 
diff --git a/src/Dispatcher/MarkBased.php b/src/Dispatcher/MarkBased.php
index bef8297..be30558 100644
--- a/src/Dispatcher/MarkBased.php
+++ b/src/Dispatcher/MarkBased.php
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ namespace FastRoute\Dispatcher;
 
 use FastRoute\Dispatcher\Result\Matched;
 
-use function preg_match;
-
 /** @final */
 class MarkBased extends RegexBasedAbstract
 {
@@ -14,7 +12,7 @@ class MarkBased extends RegexBasedAbstract
     protected function dispatchVariableRoute(array $routeData, string $uri): ?Matched
     {
         foreach ($routeData as $data) {
-            if (preg_match($data['regex'], $uri, $matches) !== 1) {
+            if ($this->matchRoute($data['regex'], $uri, $matches) !== 1) {
                 continue;
             }
 
diff --git a/src/Dispatcher/RegexBasedAbstract.php b/src/Dispatcher/RegexBasedAbstract.php
index 9dce400..b808c71 100644
--- a/src/Dispatcher/RegexBasedAbstract.php
+++ b/src/Dispatcher/RegexBasedAbstract.php
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ use FastRoute\Dispatcher;
 use FastRoute\Dispatcher\Result\Matched;
 use FastRoute\Dispatcher\Result\MethodNotAllowed;
 use FastRoute\Dispatcher\Result\NotMatched;
+use RuntimeException;
+
+use function preg_last_error_msg;
+use function preg_match;
+use function sprintf;
 
 /**
  * @internal
@@ -35,6 +40,33 @@ abstract class RegexBasedAbstract implements Dispatcher
     /** @param DynamicRouteChunks $routeData */
     abstract protected function dispatchVariableRoute(array $routeData, string $uri): ?Matched;
 
+    /**
+     * Matches a compiled route regex against the subject, distinguishing a
+     * genuine "no match" (preg_match() returning 0) from a PCRE engine
+     * failure (preg_match() returning false).
+     *
+     * A regex engine failure - for example PREG_BACKTRACK_LIMIT_ERROR caused
+     * by a catastrophically backtracking route pattern - must not be treated
+     * as "no match". Silently swallowing it can make an unrelated, cheap
+     * route that happens to share the same combined regex chunk spuriously
+     * fail to match.
+     *
+     * @see https://github.com/nikic/FastRoute/issues/167
+     *
+     * @param array<int|string, mixed>|null $matches
+     */
+    protected function matchRoute(string $regex, string $subject, ?array &$matches = null): int
+    {
+        $result = preg_match($regex, $subject, $matches);
+        if ($result === false) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(
+                sprintf('Regex matching failed for "%s": %s', $regex, preg_last_error_msg()),
+            );
+        }
+
+        return $result;
+    }
+
     public function dispatch(string $httpMethod, string $uri): Matched|NotMatched|MethodNotAllowed
     {
         if (isset($this->staticRouteMap[$httpMethod][$uri])) {
diff --git a/test/Dispatcher/DispatcherTestCase.php b/test/Dispatcher/DispatcherTestCase.php
index ba45688..d83d94a 100644
--- a/test/Dispatcher/DispatcherTestCase.php
+++ b/test/Dispatcher/DispatcherTestCase.php
@@ -13,8 +13,11 @@ use FastRoute\Dispatcher\Result\MethodNotAllowed;
 use FastRoute\Dispatcher\Result\NotMatched;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes as PHPUnit;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+use RuntimeException;
 
 use function FastRoute\simpleDispatcher;
+use function ini_set;
+use function str_repeat;
 
 /** @phpstan-import-type ExtraParameters from DataGenerator */
 abstract class DispatcherTestCase extends TestCase
@@ -177,6 +180,40 @@ abstract class DispatcherTestCase extends TestCase
         }, $this->generateDispatcherOptions());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * A PCRE engine failure (e.g. PREG_BACKTRACK_LIMIT_ERROR triggered by a
+     * catastrophically backtracking route pattern) must not be silently
+     * treated as "no match". Otherwise, an unrelated, cheap route that
+     * happens to share the same combined regex chunk would spuriously
+     * receive a NOT_FOUND result instead of surfacing the engine error.
+     *
+     * @see https://github.com/nikic/FastRoute/issues/167
+     */
+    #[PHPUnit\Test]
+    public function regexEngineFailureIsNotSilentlyTreatedAsNotFound(): void
+    {
+        $previousLimit = ini_set('pcre.backtrack_limit', '1000');
+        self::assertNotFalse($previousLimit, 'Unable to lower pcre.backtrack_limit for this test');
+
+        try {
+            $this->expectException(RuntimeException::class);
+            $this->expectExceptionMessageMatches('/Backtrack limit exhausted/');
+
+            $dispatcher = simpleDispatcher(static function (ConfigureRoutes $r): void {
+                // Catastrophically backtracking pattern.
+                $r->addRoute('GET', '/{p:(?:a?a?)*}/complicated', 'complicated_pattern');
+                // Cheap, unrelated route combined into the same regex chunk
+                // as the pattern above. It would match the request URI on
+                // its own, but the shared chunk's preg_match() call fails.
+                $r->addRoute('GET', '/{p:a+}', 'cheap_route');
+            }, $this->generateDispatcherOptions());
+
+            $dispatcher->dispatch('GET', '/' . str_repeat('a', 30));
+        } finally {
+            ini_set('pcre.backtrack_limit', $previousLimit);
+        }
+    }
+
     /** @return iterable<string, array{0: string, 1: string, 2: Closure(ConfigureRoutes):void, 3: string, 4?: array<string, string>}> */
     public static function provideFoundDispatchCases(): iterable
     {