diff --git a/pkg/kgo/config.go b/pkg/kgo/config.go
index 51052583..7c40f1bd 100644
--- a/pkg/kgo/config.go
+++ b/pkg/kgo/config.go
@@ -141,8 +141,9 @@ type cfg struct {
 	rack           string
 	preferLagFn    PreferLagFn
 
-	maxConcurrentFetches int
-	disableFetchSessions bool
+	maxConcurrentFetches     int
+	disableFetchSessions     bool
+	keepFetchRetryableErrors bool
 
 	topics     map[string]*regexp.Regexp   // topics to consume; if regex is true, values are compiled regular expressions
 	partitions map[string]map[int32]Offset // partitions to directly consume from
@@ -1342,6 +1343,22 @@ func ConsumePreferringLagFn(fn PreferLagFn) ConsumerOpt {
 	return consumerOpt{func(cfg *cfg) { cfg.preferLagFn = fn }}
 }
 
+// KeepFetchRetryableErrors switches the client to always return any retryable
+// broker error when fetching, rather than stripping them. By default, the
+// client strips retryable errors from fetch responses; these are usually
+// signals that a client needs to update its metadata to learn of where a
+// partition has moved to (from one broker to another), or they are signals
+// that one broker is temporarily unhealthy (broker not available). You can opt
+// into keeping these errors if you want to specifically react to certain
+// events. For example, if you want to react to you yourself deleting a topic,
+// you can watch for either UNKNOWN_TOPIC_OR_PARTITION or UNKNOWN_TOPIC_ID
+// errors being returned in fetches (and ignore the other errors).
+//
+// TODO not exported / usable yet
+func keepFetchRetryableErrors() ConsumerOpt {
+	return consumerOpt{func(cfg *cfg) { cfg.keepFetchRetryableErrors = true }}
+}
+
 //////////////////////////////////
 // CONSUMER GROUP CONFIGURATION //
 //////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/pkg/kgo/consumer_direct_test.go b/pkg/kgo/consumer_direct_test.go
index 3a2d01ef..72f78625 100644
--- a/pkg/kgo/consumer_direct_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kgo/consumer_direct_test.go
@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@ package kgo
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 )
 
+// Allow adding a topic to consume after the client is initialized with nothing
+// to consume.
 func TestIssue325(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
@@ -17,6 +20,8 @@ func TestIssue325(t *testing.T) {
 		DefaultProduceTopic(topic),
 		UnknownTopicRetries(-1),
 	)
+	defer cl.Close()
+
 	if err := cl.ProduceSync(context.Background(), StringRecord("foo")).FirstErr(); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -30,6 +35,7 @@ func TestIssue325(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// Ensure we only consume one partition if we only ask for one partition.
 func TestIssue337(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
@@ -45,6 +51,7 @@ func TestIssue337(t *testing.T) {
 			topic: {0: NewOffset().At(0)},
 		}),
 	)
+	defer cl.Close()
 
 	if err := cl.ProduceSync(context.Background(),
 		&Record{Partition: 0, Value: []byte("foo")},
@@ -91,6 +98,7 @@ func TestDirectPartitionPurge(t *testing.T) {
 			topic: {0: NewOffset().At(0)},
 		}),
 	)
+	defer cl.Close()
 
 	if err := cl.ProduceSync(context.Background(),
 		&Record{Partition: 0, Value: []byte("foo")},
@@ -132,3 +140,62 @@ func TestDirectPartitionPurge(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("did not see expected values %v", exp)
 	}
 }
+
+// Ensure a deleted topic while regex consuming is no longer fetched.
+func TestIssue434(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	var (
+		t1, cleanup1 = tmpTopicPartitions(t, 1)
+		t2, cleanup2 = tmpTopicPartitions(t, 1)
+	)
+	defer cleanup1()
+	defer cleanup2()
+
+	cl, _ := NewClient(
+		getSeedBrokers(),
+		UnknownTopicRetries(-1),
+		ConsumeTopics(fmt.Sprintf("(%s|%s)", t1, t2)),
+		ConsumeRegex(),
+		FetchMaxWait(100*time.Millisecond),
+		keepFetchRetryableErrors(),
+	)
+	defer cl.Close()
+
+	if err := cl.ProduceSync(context.Background(),
+		&Record{Topic: t1, Value: []byte("t1")},
+		&Record{Topic: t2, Value: []byte("t2")},
+	).FirstErr(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	cleanup2()
+
+	// This test is a slight heuristic check test. We are keeping retryable
+	// errors, so if the purge is successful, then we expect no response
+	// and we expect the fetch to just contain context.DeadlineExceeded.
+	//
+	// We can get the topic in the response for a little bit if our fetch
+	// is fast enough, so we ignore any errors (UNKNOWN_TOPIC_ID) at the
+	// start. We want to ensure the topic is just outright missing from
+	// the response because that will mean it is internally purged.
+	start := time.Now()
+	var missingTopic int
+	for missingTopic < 2 {
+		if time.Since(start) > 2*time.Second {
+			t.Fatal("still seeing topic after 2s")
+		}
+
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 200*time.Millisecond)
+		fs := cl.PollFetches(ctx)
+		cancel()
+		var foundTopic bool
+		fs.EachTopic(func(ft FetchTopic) {
+			if ft.Topic == t2 {
+				foundTopic = true
+			}
+		})
+		if !foundTopic {
+			missingTopic++
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kgo/helpers_test.go b/pkg/kgo/helpers_test.go
index 2b669d79..4e8bc2fd 100644
--- a/pkg/kgo/helpers_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kgo/helpers_test.go
@@ -156,9 +156,15 @@ issue:
 		tb.Fatalf("unable to create topic %q: %v", topic, err)
 	}
 
+	var cleaned bool
 	return topic, func() {
 		tb.Helper()
 
+		if cleaned {
+			return
+		}
+		cleaned = true
+
 		if tb.Failed() {
 			tb.Logf("FAILED TESTING -- NOT DELETING TOPIC %s", topic)
 			return
diff --git a/pkg/kgo/metadata.go b/pkg/kgo/metadata.go
index b30989e0..29042eb1 100644
--- a/pkg/kgo/metadata.go
+++ b/pkg/kgo/metadata.go
@@ -350,6 +350,23 @@ func (cl *Client) updateMetadata() (retryWhy multiUpdateWhy, err error) {
 		}
 		tpsConsumerLoad = tpsConsumer.ensureTopics(allTopics)
 		defer tpsConsumer.storeData(tpsConsumerLoad)
+
+		// For regex consuming, if a topic is not returned in the
+		// response that we were previously consuming, we assume the
+		// topic has been deleted and purge it.
+		var purgeTopics []string
+		for topic := range tpsConsumerLoad {
+			if _, ok := latest[topic]; !ok {
+				purgeTopics = append(purgeTopics, topic)
+			}
+		}
+		if len(purgeTopics) > 0 {
+			// We have to `go` because Purge issues a blocking
+			// metadata fn; this will wait for our current
+			// execution to finish then purge.
+			cl.cfg.logger.Log(LogLevelInfo, "regex consumer purging topics that were previously consumed because they are missing in a metadata response, we are assuming they are deleted", "topics", purgeTopics)
+			go cl.PurgeTopicsFromClient(purgeTopics...)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Migrating a cursor requires stopping any consumer session. If we
diff --git a/pkg/kgo/source.go b/pkg/kgo/source.go
index 72f9f825..ed5ded6d 100644
--- a/pkg/kgo/source.go
+++ b/pkg/kgo/source.go
@@ -861,7 +861,7 @@ func (s *source) handleReqResp(br *broker, req *fetchRequest, resp *kmsg.FetchRe
 			var keep bool
 			switch fp.Err {
 			default:
-				if kerr.IsRetriable(fp.Err) {
+				if kerr.IsRetriable(fp.Err) && !s.cl.cfg.keepFetchRetryableErrors {
 					// UnknownLeaderEpoch: our meta is newer than the broker we fetched from
 					// OffsetNotAvailable: fetched from out of sync replica or a behind in-sync one (KIP-392 case 1 and case 2)
 					// UnknownTopicID: kafka has not synced the state on all brokers
@@ -887,15 +887,17 @@ func (s *source) handleReqResp(br *broker, req *fetchRequest, resp *kmsg.FetchRe
 				// consume the topic again anymore. This is an error
 				// worth bubbling up.
 				//
-				// FUN FACT: Kafka will actually return this error
-				// for a brief window immediately after creating a
-				// topic for the first time, meaning the controller
-				// has not yet propagated to the leader that it is
-				// the leader of a new partition. We need to ignore
-				// this error for a _litttttlllleee bit_.
+				// Kafka will actually return this error for a brief
+				// window immediately after creating a topic for the
+				// first time, meaning the controller has not yet
+				// propagated to the leader that it is now the leader
+				// of a new partition. We need to ignore this error
+				// for a little bit.
 				if fails := partOffset.from.unknownIDFails.Add(1); fails > 5 {
 					partOffset.from.unknownIDFails.Add(-1)
 					keep = true
+				} else if s.cl.cfg.keepFetchRetryableErrors {
+					keep = true
 				} else {
 					numErrsStripped++
 				}