diff --git a/ci/script.sh b/ci/script.sh
index 64fafc0d37..664349c374 100755
--- a/ci/script.sh
+++ b/ci/script.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ ci/run-shootout-test
 cargo test --verbose --manifest-path regex-syntax/Cargo.toml
 cargo doc --verbose --manifest-path regex-syntax/Cargo.toml
 
+if [ "$TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION" = "nightly" ]; then
+  cargo test --verbose --manifest-path regex-syntax/Cargo.toml --no-default-features --features "alloc"
+fi
+
 # Run tests on regex-capi crate.
 cargo build --verbose --manifest-path regex-capi/Cargo.toml
 (cd regex-capi/ctest && ./compile && LD_LIBRARY_PATH=../../target/debug ./test)
diff --git a/regex-syntax/Cargo.toml b/regex-syntax/Cargo.toml
index 2128945bb5..f14d3f8a66 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/Cargo.toml
+++ b/regex-syntax/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,5 +9,12 @@ homepage = "https://github.com/rust-lang/regex"
 description = "A regular expression parser."
 workspace = ".."
 
+[features]
+default = ["std"]
+# Disable this on-by-default feature and add "alloc" to allow use in no_std builds
+std = []
+# Required for use in no_std builds, presently nightly-only
+alloc = []
+
 [dependencies]
 ucd-util = "0.1.0"
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/ast/mod.rs b/regex-syntax/src/ast/mod.rs
index 884fcfa35c..e41cd92b58 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/ast/mod.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/ast/mod.rs
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@ Defines an abstract syntax for regular expressions.
 */
 
 use std::cmp::Ordering;
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 use std::error;
 use std::fmt;
+use prelude::*;
 
 pub use ast::visitor::{Visitor, visit};
 
@@ -179,6 +181,7 @@ pub enum ErrorKind {
     __Nonexhaustive,
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 impl error::Error for Error {
     fn description(&self) -> &str {
         use self::ErrorKind::*;
@@ -1488,7 +1491,7 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     #[cfg(any(unix, windows))]
     fn no_stack_overflow_on_drop() {
-        use std::thread;
+        use std_test::thread;
 
         let run = || {
             let span = || Span::splat(Position::new(0, 0, 0));
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/ast/parse.rs b/regex-syntax/src/ast/parse.rs
index b73baee735..8762658f45 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/ast/parse.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/ast/parse.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 This module provides a regular expression parser.
 */
 
-use std::borrow::Borrow;
+use prelude::{Borrow, Box, String, ToString, Vec};
 use std::cell::{Cell, RefCell};
 use std::mem;
 use std::result;
@@ -2255,6 +2255,7 @@ impl<'p, 's, P: Borrow<Parser>> ast::Visitor for NestLimiter<'p, 's, P> {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
+    use std_test::prelude::v1::*;
     use std::ops::Range;
 
     use ast::{self, Ast, Position, Span};
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/ast/print.rs b/regex-syntax/src/ast/print.rs
index 4441b4d580..63a44b9b90 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/ast/print.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/ast/print.rs
@@ -415,6 +415,7 @@ impl<'p, W: fmt::Write> Writer<'p, W> {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use ast::parse::ParserBuilder;
+    use std_test::prelude::v1::*;
     use super::Printer;
 
     fn roundtrip(given: &str) {
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/ast/visitor.rs b/regex-syntax/src/ast/visitor.rs
index 9b93a1ae15..c0bb4a3025 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/ast/visitor.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/ast/visitor.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 // except according to those terms.
 
 use std::fmt;
+use prelude::Vec;
 
 use ast::{self, Ast};
 
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/error.rs b/regex-syntax/src/error.rs
index 1f5b8f817d..ef8877045c 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/error.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/error.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 use std::cmp;
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 use std::error;
 use std::fmt;
 use std::result;
+use prelude::*;
 
 use ast;
 use hir;
@@ -39,6 +41,7 @@ impl From<hir::Error> for Error {
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 impl error::Error for Error {
     fn description(&self) -> &str {
         match *self {
@@ -285,6 +288,7 @@ fn repeat_char(c: char, count: usize) -> String {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
+    use std_test::prelude::v1::*;
     use ast::parse::Parser;
 
     // See: https://github.com/rust-lang/regex/issues/464
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/hir/interval.rs b/regex-syntax/src/hir/interval.rs
index a7e70ef596..ea46ef04b6 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/hir/interval.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/hir/interval.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use std::cmp;
 use std::fmt::Debug;
 use std::slice;
 use std::u8;
+use prelude::Vec;
 
 // This module contains an *internal* implementation of interval sets.
 //
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/hir/literal/mod.rs b/regex-syntax/src/hir/literal/mod.rs
index b7d9c1db27..33185b535f 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/hir/literal/mod.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/hir/literal/mod.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ use std::fmt;
 use std::iter;
 use std::mem;
 use std::ops;
+use prelude::*;
 
 use hir::{self, Hir, HirKind};
 
@@ -999,6 +1000,7 @@ fn cls_byte_count(cls: &hir::ClassBytes) -> usize {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
+    use std_test::prelude::v1::*;
     use std::fmt;
 
     use ParserBuilder;
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/hir/mod.rs b/regex-syntax/src/hir/mod.rs
index 903e6085be..269273e5fd 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/hir/mod.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/hir/mod.rs
@@ -11,11 +11,14 @@
 /*!
 Defines a high-level intermediate representation for regular expressions.
 */
+
 use std::char;
 use std::cmp;
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 use std::error;
 use std::fmt;
 use std::u8;
+use prelude::*;
 
 use ast::Span;
 use hir::interval::{Interval, IntervalSet, IntervalSetIter};
@@ -104,6 +107,7 @@ impl ErrorKind {
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 impl error::Error for Error {
     fn description(&self) -> &str {
         self.kind.description()
@@ -209,8 +213,7 @@ impl Hir {
     /// Consumes ownership of this HIR expression and returns its underlying
     /// `HirKind`.
     pub fn into_kind(mut self) -> HirKind {
-        use std::mem;
-        mem::replace(&mut self.kind, HirKind::Empty)
+        ::std::mem::replace(&mut self.kind, HirKind::Empty)
     }
 
     /// Returns an empty HIR expression.
@@ -2016,7 +2019,7 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     #[cfg(any(unix, windows))]
     fn no_stack_overflow_on_drop() {
-        use std::thread;
+        use std_test::thread;
 
         let run = || {
             let mut expr = Hir::empty();
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/hir/print.rs b/regex-syntax/src/hir/print.rs
index a40a670bf7..6da438192d 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/hir/print.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/hir/print.rs
@@ -247,6 +247,7 @@ impl<'p, W: fmt::Write> Writer<'p, W> {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use ParserBuilder;
+    use std_test::prelude::v1::*;
     use super::Printer;
 
     fn roundtrip(given: &str, expected: &str) {
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/hir/translate.rs b/regex-syntax/src/hir/translate.rs
index 7939ab59ad..b4228fe47d 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/hir/translate.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/hir/translate.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Defines a translator that converts an `Ast` to an `Hir`.
 
 use std::cell::{Cell, RefCell};
 use std::result;
-
+use prelude::{Box, ToString, Vec};
 use ast::{self, Ast, Span, Visitor};
 use hir::{self, Error, ErrorKind, Hir};
 use unicode::{self, ClassQuery};
@@ -1094,6 +1094,7 @@ mod tests {
     use ast::{self, Ast, Position, Span};
     use ast::parse::ParserBuilder;
     use hir::{self, Hir, HirKind};
+    use std_test::prelude::v1::*;
     use unicode::{self, ClassQuery};
 
     use super::{TranslatorBuilder, ascii_class};
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/hir/visitor.rs b/regex-syntax/src/hir/visitor.rs
index 58be7ad078..134e6fb5ec 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/hir/visitor.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/hir/visitor.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 // option. This file may not be copied, modified, or distributed
 // except according to those terms.
 
+use prelude::Vec;
 use hir::{self, Hir, HirKind};
 
 /// A trait for visiting the high-level IR (HIR) in depth first order.
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/lib.rs b/regex-syntax/src/lib.rs
index 2c785bfc5f..d4514bd4d3 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/lib.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/lib.rs
@@ -105,6 +105,21 @@ done automatically in the `regex` crate.
 
 #![deny(missing_docs)]
 
+#![cfg_attr(not(feature = "std"), no_std)]
+#![cfg_attr(all(feature = "alloc", not(feature = "std")), feature(alloc))]
+#![cfg_attr(all(feature = "alloc", not(feature = "std")), feature(slice_concat_ext))]
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+extern crate std as std_test;
+
+#[cfg(not(feature = "std"))]
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate core as std;
+
+#[cfg(all(feature = "alloc", not(feature = "std")))]
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate alloc;
+
 extern crate ucd_util;
 
 pub use error::{Error, Result};
@@ -115,9 +130,12 @@ mod either;
 mod error;
 pub mod hir;
 mod parser;
+mod prelude;
 mod unicode;
 mod unicode_tables;
 
+use prelude::String;
+
 /// Escapes all regular expression meta characters in `text`.
 ///
 /// The string returned may be safely used as a literal in a regular
@@ -199,6 +217,7 @@ pub fn is_word_byte(c: u8) -> bool {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
+    use std_test::prelude::v1::*;
     use super::*;
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/prelude.rs b/regex-syntax/src/prelude.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..918f856e5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/prelude.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+//! This module provides access to items available in both the standard library
+//! and the `alloc` facade crate while concealing the feature-flag based compile
+//! time selection between those options.
+#![allow(unused_imports)]
+
+macro_rules! multiplex_alloc {
+    ($($alloc: path, $std: path),*) => {
+        $(
+            #[cfg(all(feature = "alloc", not(feature = "std")))]
+            pub(crate) use $alloc;
+            #[cfg(feature = "std")]
+            pub(crate) use $std;
+        )*
+    };
+}
+
+macro_rules! multiplex_core {
+    ($($core: path, $std: path),*) => {
+        $(
+            #[cfg(not(feature = "std"))]
+            pub(crate) use $core;
+            #[cfg(feature = "std")]
+            pub(crate) use $std;
+        )*
+    };
+}
+
+macro_rules! alloc_only {
+    ($($alloc: path),*) => {
+        $(
+            #[cfg(all(feature = "alloc", not(feature = "std")))]
+            pub(crate) use $alloc;
+        )*
+    };
+}
+
+multiplex_alloc! {
+    alloc::borrow::Borrow, ::std::borrow::Borrow,
+    alloc::borrow::ToOwned, ::std::borrow::ToOwned,
+    alloc::boxed::Box, ::std::boxed::Box,
+    alloc::String, ::std::string::String,
+    alloc::string::ToString, ::std::string::ToString,
+    alloc::Vec, ::std::vec::Vec
+}
+
+multiplex_core! {
+    core::fmt, ::std::fmt,
+    core::slice, ::std::slice
+}
+
+alloc_only! {
+    alloc::slice::SliceConcatExt
+}
+
diff --git a/regex-syntax/src/unicode.rs b/regex-syntax/src/unicode.rs
index ed84d98b07..1818061395 100644
--- a/regex-syntax/src/unicode.rs
+++ b/regex-syntax/src/unicode.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use std::cmp::Ordering;
 use std::result;
+use prelude::{String, ToString, Vec};
 
 use ucd_util::{self, PropertyValues};
 
@@ -372,6 +373,7 @@ impl Iterator for AgeIter {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
+    use std_test::prelude::v1::*;
     use super::{contains_simple_case_mapping, simple_fold};
 
     #[test]