use re 'eval'; sub limited_re { my $str=shift; my $re=shift; my $repl=shift; my $times=shift; our $cnt; local $cnt=0; $str =~ s/$re(?(?{++$cnt > $times})\A)/eval $repl/ge; print "$str\n"; } limited_re("111111111",qr/1/,5,2); limited_re("000000000111111111",qr/1/,2,5);