diff --git a/src/regex/pcre2.cr b/src/regex/pcre2.cr
index 973e1967499d..de625d3676d3 100644
--- a/src/regex/pcre2.cr
+++ b/src/regex/pcre2.cr
@@ -140,12 +140,6 @@ module Regex::PCRE2
     flag
   end
 
-  def finalize
-    {% unless flag?(:interpreted) %}
-      LibPCRE2.code_free @re
-    {% end %}
-  end
-
   protected def self.error_impl(source)
     code = PCRE2.compile(source, LibPCRE2::UTF | LibPCRE2::DUPNAMES | LibPCRE2::UCP) do |error_message|
       return error_message
@@ -256,6 +250,7 @@ module Regex::PCRE2
     @match_data.consume_each do |match_data|
       LibPCRE2.match_data_free(match_data)
     end
+    LibPCRE2.code_free @re
   end
 
   private def match_data(str, byte_index, options)
@@ -278,12 +273,6 @@ module Regex::PCRE2
     match_data
   end
 
-  def self.config(what, type : T.class) : T forall T
-    value = uninitialized T
-    LibPCRE2.config(what, pointerof(value))
-    value
-  end
-
   module MatchData
     # :nodoc:
     def initialize(@regex : Regex, @code : LibPCRE2::Code*, @string : String, @pos : Int32, @ovector : LibC::SizeT*, @group_size : Int32)