diff --git a/src/parser/ComponentRepeat.cpp b/src/parser/ComponentRepeat.cpp
index ff02703c..09f59d05 100644
--- a/src/parser/ComponentRepeat.cpp
+++ b/src/parser/ComponentRepeat.cpp
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ void ComponentRepeat::optimise(bool connected_to_sds) {
 }
 
 bool ComponentRepeat::vacuous_everywhere() const {
-    return !m_min;
+    return !m_min || sub_comp->vacuous_everywhere();
 }
 
 bool ComponentRepeat::checkEmbeddedStartAnchor(bool at_start) const {