diff --git a/Modules/_sre/sre.c b/Modules/_sre/sre.c
index b0eb9d131c6469..602d0ab8588f62 100644
--- a/Modules/_sre/sre.c
+++ b/Modules/_sre/sre.c
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ static unsigned int sre_toupper(unsigned int ch) {
 
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) && !defined(__clang__)
 #pragma optimize("agtw", on) /* doesn't seem to make much difference... */
 #pragma warning(disable: 4710) /* who cares if functions are not inlined ;-) */
 /* fastest possible local call under MSVC */