diff --git a/classes/pref/filters.php b/classes/pref/filters.php
index 681f197cd..dba2568f2 100755
--- a/classes/pref/filters.php
+++ b/classes/pref/filters.php
@@ -964,19 +964,18 @@ class Pref_Filters extends Handler_Protected {
 
 		print "<section>";
 
-		print "<input dojoType=\"dijit.form.ValidationTextBox\"
-			 required=\"true\" id=\"filterDlg_regExp\" 
-			 onchange='Filters.filterDlgCheckRegExp(this)'
-			 onblur='Filters.filterDlgCheckRegExp(this)'
-			 onfocus='Filters.filterDlgCheckRegExp(this)'
-			 style=\"font-size : 16px; width : 500px\"
-			 name=\"reg_exp\" value=\"$reg_exp\"/>";
+		print "<textarea dojoType='fox.form.ValidationTextArea'
+			 required='true' id='filterDlg_regExp' 
+			 ValidRegExp='true'
+			 rows='4'
+			 style='font-size : 14px; width : 490px; word-break: break-all'
+			 name='reg_exp'>$reg_exp</textarea>";
 
 		print "<div dojoType='dijit.Tooltip' id='filterDlg_regExp_tip' connectId='filterDlg_regExp' position='below'></div>";
 
 		print "<fieldset>";
-		print "<label class='checkbox'><input id=\"filterDlg_inverse\" dojoType=\"dijit.form.CheckBox\"
-			 name=\"inverse\" $inverse_checked/> ".
+		print "<label class='checkbox'><input id='filterDlg_inverse' dojoType='dijit.form.CheckBox'
+			 name='inverse' $inverse_checked/> ".
 		 	__("Inverse regular expression matching")."</label>";
 		print "</fieldset>";
 
diff --git a/classes/rssutils.php b/classes/rssutils.php
index 831ac1baf..87e194603 100755
--- a/classes/rssutils.php
+++ b/classes/rssutils.php
@@ -1343,6 +1343,7 @@ class RSSUtils {
 			foreach ($filter["rules"] as $rule) {
 				$match = false;
 				$reg_exp = str_replace('/', '\/', $rule["reg_exp"]);
+				$reg_exp = str_replace("\n", "", $reg_exp); // reg_exp may be formatted with CRs now because of textarea, we need to strip those
 				$rule_inverse = $rule["inverse"];
 
 				if (!$reg_exp)
diff --git a/js/CommonFilters.js b/js/CommonFilters.js
index a06905e01..53573b365 100644
--- a/js/CommonFilters.js
+++ b/js/CommonFilters.js
@@ -2,24 +2,6 @@
 /* global __, ngettext */
 define(["dojo/_base/declare"], function (declare) {
 	Filters = {
-		filterDlgCheckRegExp: function(sender) {
-			const tooltip = dijit.byId("filterDlg_regExp_tip").domNode;
-
-			try {
-				sender.domNode.removeClassName("invalid");
-				sender.domNode.removeClassName("valid");
-
-				new RegExp("/" + sender.value + "/");
-
-				sender.domNode.addClassName("valid");
-				tooltip.innerText = __("Regular expression, without outer delimiters (i.e. slashes)");
-
-			} catch (e) {
-				sender.domNode.addClassName("invalid");
-
-				tooltip.innerText = e.message;
-			}
-		},
 		filterDlgCheckAction: function(sender) {
 			const action = sender.value;
 
diff --git a/js/form/ValidationTextArea.js b/js/form/ValidationTextArea.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a7993f716
--- /dev/null
+++ b/js/form/ValidationTextArea.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19317258/how-to-use-dijit-textarea-validation-dojo-1-9
+
+define(["dojo/_base/declare", "dojo/_base/lang", "dijit/form/SimpleTextarea", "dijit/form/ValidationTextBox"],
+    function(declare, lang, SimpleTextarea, ValidationTextBox) {
+
+        return declare('fox.form.ValidationTextArea', [SimpleTextarea, ValidationTextBox], {
+            constructor: function(params){
+                this.constraints = {};
+                this.baseClass += ' dijitValidationTextArea';
+            },
+            templateString: "<textarea ${!nameAttrSetting} data-dojo-attach-point='focusNode,containerNode,textbox' autocomplete='off'></textarea>",
+            validator: function(value, constraints) {
+                //console.log(this, value, constraints);
+
+                if (this.required && this._isEmpty(value))
+                    return false;
+
+                if (this.validregexp) {
+                    try {
+                        new RegExp("/" + value + "/");
+                    } catch (e) {
+                        return false;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                return value.match(new RegExp(this._computeRegexp(constraints)));
+
+                /*return (new RegExp("^(?:" + this._computeRegexp(constraints) + ")"+(this.required?"":"?")+"$",["m"])).test(value) &&
+                    (!this.required || !this._isEmpty(value)) &&
+                    (this._isEmpty(value) || this.parse(value, constraints) !== undefined); // Boolean*/
+            }
+        })
+    });
diff --git a/js/prefs.js b/js/prefs.js
index 944e49258..96fcbd948 100755
--- a/js/prefs.js
+++ b/js/prefs.js
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ require(["dojo/_base/kernel",
 	"fox/PrefFilterTree",
 	"fox/PrefLabelTree",
 	"fox/Toolbar",
+	"fox/form/ValidationTextArea",
 	"fox/form/Select",
 	"fox/form/ComboButton",
 	"fox/form/DropDownButton"], function (dojo, declare, ready, parser, AppBase) {