diff --git a/include/boost/regex/v4/regex_format.hpp b/include/boost/regex/v4/regex_format.hpp
index f0e327f3..5bd47cf6 100644
--- a/include/boost/regex/v4/regex_format.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/regex/v4/regex_format.hpp
@@ -243,7 +243,8 @@ void basic_regex_formatter<OutputIterator, Results, traits>::format_perl()
    default:
       // see if we have a number:
       {
-         std::ptrdiff_t len = (std::min)(static_cast<std::ptrdiff_t>(2), ::boost::re_detail::distance(m_position, m_end));
+         std::ptrdiff_t len = ::boost::re_detail::distance(m_position, m_end);
+         len = (std::min)(static_cast<std::ptrdiff_t>(2), len);
          int v = m_traits.toi(m_position, m_position + len, 10);
          if(v < 0)
          {
@@ -327,7 +328,8 @@ void basic_regex_formatter<OutputIterator, Results, traits>::format_escape()
       }
       else
       {
-         std::ptrdiff_t len = (std::min)(static_cast<std::ptrdiff_t>(2), ::boost::re_detail::distance(m_position, m_end));
+         std::ptrdiff_t len = ::boost::re_detail::distance(m_position, m_end);
+         len = (std::min)(static_cast<std::ptrdiff_t>(2), len);
          int val = m_traits.toi(m_position, m_position + len, 16);
          if(val < 0)
          {
@@ -398,7 +400,8 @@ void basic_regex_formatter<OutputIterator, Results, traits>::format_escape()
       {
          // octal ecape sequence:
          --m_position;
-         std::ptrdiff_t len = (std::min)(static_cast<std::ptrdiff_t>(4), ::boost::re_detail::distance(m_position, m_end));
+         std::ptrdiff_t len = ::boost::re_detail::distance(m_position, m_end);
+         len = (std::min)(static_cast<std::ptrdiff_t>(4), len);
          v = m_traits.toi(m_position, m_position + len, 8);
          BOOST_ASSERT(v >= 0);
          put(static_cast<char_type>(v));
@@ -419,7 +422,8 @@ void basic_regex_formatter<OutputIterator, Results, traits>::format_conditional(
       put(static_cast<char_type>('?'));
       return;
    }
-   std::ptrdiff_t len = (std::min)(static_cast<std::ptrdiff_t>(2), ::boost::re_detail::distance(m_position, m_end));
+   std::ptrdiff_t len = ::boost::re_detail::distance(m_position, m_end);
+   len = (std::min)(static_cast<std::ptrdiff_t>(2), len);
    int v = m_traits.toi(m_position, m_position + len, 10);
    if(v < 0)
    {