diff --git a/kitty/tab_bar.py b/kitty/tab_bar.py
index 1b3065f5a..0c074dfbb 100644
--- a/kitty/tab_bar.py
+++ b/kitty/tab_bar.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # License: GPL v3 Copyright: 2018, Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
 
 import os
+import re
 from functools import lru_cache, partial, wraps
 from string import Formatter as StringFormatter
 from typing import (
@@ -189,7 +190,7 @@ class TabAccessor:
 
 
 safe_builtins = {
-    'max': max, 'min': min, 'str': str, 'repr': repr, 'abs': abs, 'len': len,
+    'max': max, 'min': min, 'str': str, 'repr': repr, 'abs': abs, 'len': len, 're': re,
 }