diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 89e7ae0..2291fe9 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ script:
   - cargo test --verbose
   - ([ $TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION != nightly ] || cargo test --verbose --no-default-features)
   - cargo test --verbose --manifest-path env/Cargo.toml
+  - cargo test --verbose --manifest-path env/Cargo.toml --no-default-features
   - cargo run --verbose --manifest-path tests/max_level_features/Cargo.toml
   - cargo run --verbose --manifest-path tests/max_level_features/Cargo.toml --release
   - ([ $TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION != nightly ] || cargo doc --no-deps --features nightly)
diff --git a/env/Cargo.toml b/env/Cargo.toml
index bd2de3c..f6b391a 100644
--- a/env/Cargo.toml
+++ b/env/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@ An logging implementation for `log` which is configured via an environment
 variable.
 """
 
-[dependencies.log]
-version = "0.3"
-path = ".."
-
 [dependencies]
-regex = "0.1"
+log = { version = "0.3", path = ".." }
+regex = { version = "0.1", optional = true }
 
 [[test]]
 name = "regexp_filter"
 harness = false
+
+[features]
+default = ["regex"]
diff --git a/env/src/lib.rs b/env/src/lib.rs
index 797680a..9105c19 100644
--- a/env/src/lib.rs
+++ b/env/src/lib.rs
@@ -130,10 +130,8 @@
        html_root_url = "http://doc.rust-lang.org/env_logger/")]
 #![cfg_attr(test, deny(warnings))]
 
-extern crate regex;
 extern crate log;
 
-use regex::Regex;
 use std::env;
 use std::io::prelude::*;
 use std::io;
@@ -141,10 +139,18 @@ use std::mem;
 
 use log::{Log, LogLevel, LogLevelFilter, LogRecord, SetLoggerError, LogMetadata};
 
+#[cfg(feature = "regex")]
+#[path = "regex.rs"]
+mod filter;
+
+#[cfg(not(feature = "regex"))]
+#[path = "string.rs"]
+mod filter;
+
 /// The logger.
 pub struct Logger {
     directives: Vec<LogDirective>,
-    filter: Option<Regex>,
+    filter: Option<filter::Filter>,
     format: Box<Fn(&LogRecord) -> String + Sync + Send>,
 }
 
@@ -183,7 +189,7 @@ pub struct Logger {
 /// ```
 pub struct LogBuilder {
     directives: Vec<LogDirective>,
-    filter: Option<Regex>,
+    filter: Option<filter::Filter>,
     format: Box<Fn(&LogRecord) -> String + Sync + Send>,
 }
 
@@ -352,7 +358,7 @@ pub fn init() -> Result<(), SetLoggerError> {
 
 /// Parse a logging specification string (e.g: "crate1,crate2::mod3,crate3::x=error/foo")
 /// and return a vector with log directives.
-fn parse_logging_spec(spec: &str) -> (Vec<LogDirective>, Option<Regex>) {
+fn parse_logging_spec(spec: &str) -> (Vec<LogDirective>, Option<filter::Filter>) {
     let mut dirs = Vec::new();
 
     let mut parts = spec.split('/');
@@ -399,7 +405,7 @@ fn parse_logging_spec(spec: &str) -> (Vec<LogDirective>, Option<Regex>) {
     }});
 
     let filter = filter.map_or(None, |filter| {
-        match Regex::new(filter) {
+        match filter::Filter::new(filter) {
             Ok(re) => Some(re),
             Err(e) => {
                 println!("warning: invalid regex filter - {}", e);
diff --git a/env/src/regex.rs b/env/src/regex.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0df03e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/env/src/regex.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+extern crate regex;
+
+use std::fmt;
+
+use self::regex::Regex;
+
+pub struct Filter {
+    inner: Regex,
+}
+
+impl Filter {
+    pub fn new(spec: &str) -> Result<Filter, String> {
+        match Regex::new(spec){
+            Ok(r) => Ok(Filter { inner: r }),
+            Err(e) => Err(e.to_string()),
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn is_match(&self, s: &str) -> bool {
+        self.inner.is_match(s)
+    }
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for Filter {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        self.inner.fmt(f)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/env/src/string.rs b/env/src/string.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74d0e04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/env/src/string.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+use std::fmt;
+
+pub struct Filter {
+    inner: String,
+}
+
+impl Filter {
+    pub fn new(spec: &str) -> Result<Filter, String> {
+        Ok(Filter { inner: spec.to_string() })
+    }
+
+    pub fn is_match(&self, s: &str) -> bool {
+        s.contains(&self.inner)
+    }
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for Filter {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        self.inner.fmt(f)
+    }
+}