diff --git a/lisp/apropos.el b/lisp/apropos.el
index 5f2ed106e0e..5eda7567ef0 100644
--- a/lisp/apropos.el
+++ b/lisp/apropos.el
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ Value is a list of offsets of the words into the string."
 	  (if (setq i (string-match word str))
 	      (setq scores (cons i scores))))
       ;; Return list of start and end position of regexp
-      (and (string-match apropos-regexp str)
+      (and (string-match apropos-pattern str)
 	   (list (match-beginning 0) (match-end 0))))))
 
 (defun apropos-score-str (str)