diff --git a/lib/jekyll/cleaner.rb b/lib/jekyll/cleaner.rb
index 10601243..65f4b8e1 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/cleaner.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/cleaner.rb
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ module Jekyll
       dirs = keep_dirs
 
       Utils.safe_glob(site.in_dest_dir, ["**", "*"], File::FNM_DOTMATCH).each do |file|
-        next if file =~ HIDDEN_FILE_REGEX || file =~ regex || dirs.include?(file)
+        next if HIDDEN_FILE_REGEX.match?(file) || regex.match?(file) || dirs.include?(file)
 
         files << file
       end