diff --git a/c/dsl/function_manager.c b/c/dsl/function_manager.c
index 663a5b0c3..714e19b05 100644
--- a/c/dsl/function_manager.c
+++ b/c/dsl/function_manager.c
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@ static function_lookup_t FUNCTION_LOOKUP_TABLE[] = {
 	{FUNC_CLASS_STRING, ".",        2,0, "String concatenation."},
 	{FUNC_CLASS_STRING, "gsub",     3,0, "Example: '$name=gsub($name, \"old\", \"new\")'\n(replace all)."},
 	{FUNC_CLASS_STRING, "regextract", 2,0, "Example: '$name=regextract($name, \"[A-Z]{3}[0-9]{2}\")'\n."},
+	{FUNC_CLASS_STRING, "regextract_or_else", 2,0, "Example: '$name=regextract_or_else($name, \"[A-Z]{3}[0-9]{2}\", \"default\")'\n."},
 	{FUNC_CLASS_STRING, "strlen",   1,0, "String length."},
 	{FUNC_CLASS_STRING, "sub",      3,0, "Example: '$name=sub($name, \"old\", \"new\")'\n(replace once)."},
 	{FUNC_CLASS_STRING, "ssub",     3,0, "Like sub but does no regexing. No characters are special."},
@@ -989,7 +990,8 @@ static rval_evaluator_t* construct_builtin_function_callsite_evaluator(
 
 		int is_regexy =
 			streq(function_name, "sub") ||
-			streq(function_name, "gsub");
+			streq(function_name, "gsub") ||
+			streq(function_name, "regextract_or_else");
 
 		if (is_regexy && type2 == MD_AST_NODE_TYPE_STRING_LITERAL) {
 			// sub/gsub-regex special case:
@@ -1275,6 +1277,8 @@ static rval_evaluator_t* fmgr_alloc_evaluator_from_ternary_func_name(char* fnnm,
 		return rval_evaluator_alloc_from_s_sss_func(gsub_no_precomp_func, parg1, parg2, parg3);
 	} else if (streq(fnnm, "ssub")) {
 		return rval_evaluator_alloc_from_s_sss_func(s_sss_ssub_func,      parg1, parg2, parg3);
+	} else if (streq(fnnm, "regextract_or_else")) {
+		return rval_evaluator_alloc_from_s_sss_func(regextract_or_else_no_precomp_func, parg1, parg2, parg3);
 	} else if (streq(fnnm, "logifit")) {
 		return rval_evaluator_alloc_from_f_fff_func(f_fff_logifit_func,   parg1, parg2, parg3);
 	} else if (streq(fnnm, "madd")) {
@@ -1299,6 +1303,8 @@ static rval_evaluator_t* fmgr_alloc_evaluator_from_ternary_regex_arg2_func_name(
 		return rval_evaluator_alloc_from_x_srs_func(sub_precomp_func,  parg1, regex_string, ignore_case, parg3);
 	} else if (streq(fnnm, "gsub"))  {
 		return rval_evaluator_alloc_from_x_srs_func(gsub_precomp_func, parg1, regex_string, ignore_case, parg3);
+	} else if (streq(fnnm, "regextract_or_else"))  {
+		return rval_evaluator_alloc_from_x_ses_func(regextract_or_else_precomp_func, parg1, regex_string, ignore_case, parg3);
 	} else  { return NULL; }
 }
 
diff --git a/c/dsl/rval_evaluators.h b/c/dsl/rval_evaluators.h
index 162e7a277..214127095 100644
--- a/c/dsl/rval_evaluators.h
+++ b/c/dsl/rval_evaluators.h
@@ -177,6 +177,9 @@ rval_evaluator_t* rval_evaluator_alloc_from_s_sss_func(mv_ternary_func_t* pfunc,
 rval_evaluator_t* rval_evaluator_alloc_from_x_srs_func(mv_ternary_arg2_regex_func_t* pfunc,
 	rval_evaluator_t* parg1, char* regex_string, int ignore_case, rval_evaluator_t* parg3);
 
+rval_evaluator_t* rval_evaluator_alloc_from_x_ses_func(mv_ternary_arg2_regextract_func_t* pfunc,
+	rval_evaluator_t* parg1, char* regex_string, int ignore_case, rval_evaluator_t* parg3);
+
 // ================================================================
 // rval_list_evaluators.c
 // ================================================================
diff --git a/c/dsl/rval_func_evaluators.c b/c/dsl/rval_func_evaluators.c
index 6c02399c5..248a79c48 100644
--- a/c/dsl/rval_func_evaluators.c
+++ b/c/dsl/rval_func_evaluators.c
@@ -1359,3 +1359,59 @@ rval_evaluator_t* rval_evaluator_alloc_from_x_srs_func(mv_ternary_arg2_regex_fun
 
 	return pevaluator;
 }
+
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------
+typedef struct _rval_evaluator_x_ses_state_t {
+	mv_ternary_arg2_regextract_func_t* pfunc;
+	rval_evaluator_t*             parg1;
+	regex_t                       regex;
+	rval_evaluator_t*             parg3;
+} rval_evaluator_x_ses_state_t;
+
+static mv_t rval_evaluator_x_ses_func(void* pvstate, variables_t* pvars) {
+	rval_evaluator_x_ses_state_t* pstate = pvstate;
+
+	mv_t val1 = pstate->parg1->pprocess_func(pstate->parg1->pvstate, pvars);
+	NULL_OR_ERROR_OUT_FOR_STRINGS(val1);
+	if (!mv_is_string_or_empty(&val1))
+		return mv_error();
+
+	mv_t val3 = pstate->parg3->pprocess_func(pstate->parg3->pvstate, pvars);
+	NULL_OR_ERROR_OUT_FOR_STRINGS(val3);
+	if (!mv_is_string_or_empty(&val3)) {
+		mv_free(&val3);
+		return mv_error();
+	}
+
+	return pstate->pfunc(&val1, &pstate->regex, &val3);
+}
+
+static void rval_evaluator_x_ses_free(rval_evaluator_t* pevaluator) {
+	rval_evaluator_x_ses_state_t* pstate = pevaluator->pvstate;
+	pstate->parg1->pfree_func(pstate->parg1);
+	regfree(&pstate->regex);
+	pstate->parg3->pfree_func(pstate->parg3);
+	free(pstate);
+	free(pevaluator);
+}
+
+rval_evaluator_t* rval_evaluator_alloc_from_x_ses_func(mv_ternary_arg2_regextract_func_t* pfunc,
+	rval_evaluator_t* parg1, char* regex_string, int ignore_case, rval_evaluator_t* parg3)
+{
+	rval_evaluator_x_ses_state_t* pstate = mlr_malloc_or_die(sizeof(rval_evaluator_x_ses_state_t));
+	pstate->pfunc = pfunc;
+
+	pstate->parg1 = parg1;
+
+	int cflags = ignore_case ? REG_ICASE : 0;
+	regcomp_or_die(&pstate->regex, regex_string, cflags);
+
+	pstate->parg3 = parg3;
+
+	rval_evaluator_t* pevaluator = mlr_malloc_or_die(sizeof(rval_evaluator_t));
+	pevaluator->pvstate = pstate;
+	pevaluator->pprocess_func = rval_evaluator_x_ses_func;
+	pevaluator->pfree_func = rval_evaluator_x_ses_free;
+
+	return pevaluator;
+}
diff --git a/c/lib/mvfuncs.h b/c/lib/mvfuncs.h
index b486cb4ba..f3a7c3ea7 100644
--- a/c/lib/mvfuncs.h
+++ b/c/lib/mvfuncs.h
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ typedef mv_t mv_binary_arg2_regex_func_t(mv_t* pval1, regex_t* pregex, string_bu
 typedef mv_t mv_binary_arg2_regextract_func_t(mv_t* pval1, regex_t* pregex);
 typedef mv_t mv_ternary_func_t(mv_t* pval1, mv_t* pval2, mv_t* pval3);
 typedef mv_t mv_ternary_arg2_regex_func_t(mv_t* pval1, regex_t* pregex, string_builder_t* psb, mv_t* pval3);
+typedef mv_t mv_ternary_arg2_regextract_func_t(mv_t* pval1, regex_t* pregex, mv_t* pval3);
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------
 static inline mv_t b_b_not_func(mv_t* pval1) {