diff --git a/Changes b/Changes
index 213e3e0..dc38dac 100644
--- a/Changes
+++ b/Changes
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+0.38.2 2022-08-31
+    - [feature] Improve regex treatment of negative
+      character classes (diewald)
+
 0.38.1 2022-10-05
     - [security] Updated log4j (diewald)
     - Fixed Annis OR group (resolved #96) 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 10c9173..dceb9ca 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 	<groupId>de.ids_mannheim.korap</groupId>
 	<artifactId>Koral</artifactId>
-	<version>0.38.1</version>
+	<version>0.38.2</version>
 	<packaging>jar</packaging>
 	<name>Koral</name>
 	<url>https://korap.ids-mannheim.de</url>
diff --git a/src/main/antlr/poliqarpplus/PoliqarpPlusLexer.g4 b/src/main/antlr/poliqarpplus/PoliqarpPlusLexer.g4
index 420856e..2189657 100644
--- a/src/main/antlr/poliqarpplus/PoliqarpPlusLexer.g4
+++ b/src/main/antlr/poliqarpplus/PoliqarpPlusLexer.g4
@@ -94,20 +94,20 @@
 
 /* Regular expressions and Regex queries */
 fragment RE_symbol     : ~('*' | '?' | '+' | '{' | '}' | '[' | ']'
-                     | '(' | ')' | '|' | '\\' | '"' | ':' | '\'');
+                     | '(' | ')' | '|' | '\\' | '"' | ':' | '\'' | '^' );
 fragment RE_esc      : '\\' ('.' | '*' | '?' | '+' | '{' | '}' | '[' | ']'
-                     | '(' | ')' | '|' | '\\' | '"' | ':' | '\'');
+                     | '(' | ')' | '|' | '\\' | '"' | ':' | '\'' | '^' );
 fragment RE_char     : (RE_symbol | RE_esc );
 fragment RE_alter    : ((RE_char | ('(' RE_expr ')') | RE_chgroup) '|' RE_expr )+;
 
-fragment RE_chgroup  : '[' RE_char+ ']';
+fragment RE_chgroup  : '[' '^'? RE_char+ ']';
 fragment RE_quant	 : (RE_star | RE_plus | RE_occ) QMARK?;
 fragment RE_opt      : (RE_char | RE_chgroup | ( '(' RE_expr ')')) '?';
 fragment RE_star     : (RE_char | RE_chgroup | ( '(' RE_expr ')')) '*';
 fragment RE_plus     : (RE_char | RE_chgroup | ( '(' RE_expr ')')) '+';
 fragment RE_occ      : (RE_char | RE_chgroup | ( '(' RE_expr ')')) FOCC;
 fragment RE_group    : '(' RE_expr ')';
-fragment RE_expr     : ('.' | RE_char | RE_alter | RE_chgroup | RE_opt | RE_quant | RE_group)+;
+fragment RE_expr     : ('.' | RE_char | RE_alter | RE_chgroup | RE_opt | RE_quant | RE_group | '^' )+;
 fragment RE_dquote   : ('"'|'„'|'“')  (RE_expr | '\'' | ':' )* ('"'|'“'|'”');
 
 REGEX             : RE_dquote;
diff --git a/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/test/poliqarpplus/PoliqarpPlusQueryProcessorTest.java b/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/test/poliqarpplus/PoliqarpPlusQueryProcessorTest.java
index dd4daad..675debc 100644
--- a/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/test/poliqarpplus/PoliqarpPlusQueryProcessorTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/test/poliqarpplus/PoliqarpPlusQueryProcessorTest.java
@@ -258,6 +258,21 @@
         assertEquals("type:regex", res.at("/query/wrap/type").asText());
         assertEquals("orth", res.at("/query/wrap/layer").asText());
         assertEquals("match:eq", res.at("/query/wrap/match").asText());
+
+        query = "\"d[^ae]r^\"";
+        qs.setQuery(query, "poliqarpplus");
+        res = mapper.readTree(qs.toJSON());
+        assertEquals("koral:token", res.at("/query/@type").asText());
+        assertEquals("koral:term", res.at("/query/wrap/@type").asText());
+        assertEquals("d[^ae]r^", res.at("/query/wrap/key").asText());
+        assertEquals("type:regex", res.at("/query/wrap/type").asText());
+        assertEquals("orth", res.at("/query/wrap/layer").asText());
+        assertEquals("match:eq", res.at("/query/wrap/match").asText());
+        
+        query = "\"d[a^e]r\"";
+        qs.setQuery(query, "poliqarpplus");
+        res = mapper.readTree(qs.toJSON());
+        assertEquals("302", res.at("/errors/0/0").asText());
     }
 
     @Test