diff --git a/cpp/src/strings/replace/replace_re.cu b/cpp/src/strings/replace/replace_re.cu
index 9fd1768453a..2c594bb86a8 100644
--- a/cpp/src/strings/replace/replace_re.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/strings/replace/replace_re.cu
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2019-2021, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ * Copyright (c) 2019-2022, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -62,37 +62,49 @@ struct replace_regex_fn {
       if (!d_chars) d_offsets[idx] = 0;
       return;
     }
-    auto const d_str  = d_strings.element<string_view>(idx);
-    auto const nchars = d_str.length();                  // number of characters in input string
-    auto nbytes       = d_str.size_bytes();              // number of bytes in input string
-    auto mxn          = maxrepl < 0 ? nchars : maxrepl;  // max possible replaces for this string
-    auto in_ptr       = d_str.data();                    // input pointer (i)
-    auto out_ptr      = d_chars ? d_chars + d_offsets[idx] : nullptr;  // output pointer (o)
-    size_type lpos    = 0;
-    int32_t begin     = 0;
-    int32_t end       = static_cast<int32_t>(nchars);
+
+    auto const d_str = d_strings.element<string_view>(idx);
+    auto nbytes      = d_str.size_bytes();                  // number of bytes in input string
+    auto mxn = maxrepl < 0 ? d_str.length() + 1 : maxrepl;  // max possible replaces for this string
+    auto in_ptr        = d_str.data();                      // input pointer (i)
+    auto out_ptr       = d_chars ? d_chars + d_offsets[idx]  // output pointer (o)
+                                 : nullptr;
+    size_type last_pos = 0;
+    int32_t begin      = 0;   // these are for calling prog.find
+    int32_t end        = -1;  // matches final word-boundary if at the end of the string
+
     // copy input to output replacing strings as we go
-    while (mxn-- > 0)  // maximum number of replaces
-    {
-      if (prog.is_empty() || prog.find<stack_size>(idx, d_str, begin, end) <= 0)
-        break;                                        // no more matches
-      auto spos = d_str.byte_offset(begin);           // get offset for these
-      auto epos = d_str.byte_offset(end);             // character position values
-      nbytes += d_repl.size_bytes() - (epos - spos);  // compute new size
-      if (out_ptr)                                    // replace
-      {                                               // i:bbbbsssseeee
-        out_ptr = copy_and_increment(out_ptr, in_ptr + lpos, spos - lpos);  // o:bbbb
-        out_ptr = copy_string(out_ptr, d_repl);                             // o:bbbbrrrrrr
-                                                                            //  out_ptr ---^
-        lpos = epos;                                                        // i:bbbbsssseeee
-      }                                                                     //  in_ptr --^
-      begin = end;
-      end   = static_cast<int32_t>(nchars);
+    while (mxn-- > 0) {  // maximum number of replaces
+
+      if (prog.is_empty() || prog.find<stack_size>(idx, d_str, begin, end) <= 0) {
+        break;  // no more matches
+      }
+
+      auto const start_pos = d_str.byte_offset(begin);        // get offset for these
+      auto const end_pos   = d_str.byte_offset(end);          // character position values
+      nbytes += d_repl.size_bytes() - (end_pos - start_pos);  // and compute new size
+
+      if (out_ptr) {                                         // replace:
+                                                             // i:bbbbsssseeee
+        out_ptr = copy_and_increment(out_ptr,                //   ^
+                                     in_ptr + last_pos,      // o:bbbb
+                                     start_pos - last_pos);  //       ^
+        out_ptr = copy_string(out_ptr, d_repl);              // o:bbbbrrrrrr
+                                                             //  out_ptr ---^
+        last_pos = end_pos;                                  // i:bbbbsssseeee
+      }                                                      //  in_ptr --^
+
+      begin = end + (begin == end);
+      end   = -1;
     }
-    if (out_ptr)                                                  // copy the remainder
-      memcpy(out_ptr, in_ptr + lpos, d_str.size_bytes() - lpos);  // o:bbbbrrrrrreeee
-    else
+
+    if (out_ptr) {
+      memcpy(out_ptr,                         // copy the remainder
+             in_ptr + last_pos,               // o:bbbbrrrrrreeee
+             d_str.size_bytes() - last_pos);  //             ^   ^
+    } else {
       d_offsets[idx] = static_cast<int32_t>(nbytes);
+    }
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/cpp/tests/strings/replace_regex_tests.cpp b/cpp/tests/strings/replace_regex_tests.cpp
index eac06fa4588..ddbd9f5b3d6 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/strings/replace_regex_tests.cpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/strings/replace_regex_tests.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2019-2021, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ * Copyright (c) 2019-2022, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -145,6 +145,16 @@ TEST_F(StringsReplaceRegexTest, MultiReplacement)
   CUDF_TEST_EXPECT_COLUMNS_EQUIVALENT(*results, input);
 }
 
+TEST_F(StringsReplaceRegexTest, WordBoundary)
+{
+  cudf::test::strings_column_wrapper input({"aba bcd\naba", "zéz", "A1B2-é3", "e é"});
+  auto results =
+    cudf::strings::replace_re(cudf::strings_column_view(input), "\\b", cudf::string_scalar("X"));
+  cudf::test::strings_column_wrapper expected(
+    {"XabaX XbcdX\nXabaX", "XzézX", "XA1B2X-Xé3X", "XeX XéX"});
+  CUDF_TEST_EXPECT_COLUMNS_EQUIVALENT(*results, expected);
+}
+
 TEST_F(StringsReplaceRegexTest, Multiline)
 {
   auto const multiline = cudf::strings::regex_flags::MULTILINE;