diff --git a/src/Regex/Internal/Num.hs b/src/Regex/Internal/Num.hs
index 8d3a9c7..fdb9285 100644
--- a/src/Regex/Internal/Num.hs
+++ b/src/Regex/Internal/Num.hs
@@ -133,9 +133,7 @@ mkSignedIntRange minus plus wordRangeDec (low,high) = case (negR, nonNegR) of
 {-# INLINE mkSignedIntRange #-}
 
 absw :: Int -> Word
-absw x = if x == minBound
-         then fromIntegral (abs (x+1) + 1)
-         else fromIntegral (abs x)
+absw = fromIntegral . abs
 
 -------------------
 -- Parsing ranges