diff --git a/forbidigo/forbidigo_test.go b/forbidigo/forbidigo_test.go
index 953b74b..6de984c 100644
--- a/forbidigo/forbidigo_test.go
+++ b/forbidigo/forbidigo_test.go
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@ func foo() {
 	})
 
 	t.Run("displays custom messages", func(t *testing.T) {
-		linter, _ := NewLinter([]string{`#[Please don't use this!]fmt\.Printf`})
+		linter, _ := NewLinter([]string{`fmt\.Printf(# Please don't use this!)?`})
 		expectIssues(t, linter, `
-package bar
+	package bar
 
-func foo() {
+	func foo() {
 	fmt.Printf("here i am")
-}`, "use of `fmt.Printf` forbidden by pattern `fmt\\.Printf` at testing.go:5:2: Please don't use this!")
+	}`, "use of `fmt.Printf` forbidden by pattern `fmt\\.Printf` at testing.go:5:2: Please don't use this!")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("it doesn't require a package on the identifier", func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/forbidigo/patterns.go b/forbidigo/patterns.go
index 25af7c5..ab689c4 100644
--- a/forbidigo/patterns.go
+++ b/forbidigo/patterns.go
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ package forbidigo
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
+	"regexp/syntax"
+	"strings"
 )
 
-var ptrnWithMsg = regexp.MustCompile(`(#\[(?P<msg>[^\]]+)\])?(?P<pattern>.+)`)
-
 type pattern struct {
 	pattern *regexp.Regexp
 	msg     string
@@ -14,18 +14,35 @@ type pattern struct {
 
 func parse(ptrn string) (*pattern, error) {
 	p := &pattern{}
-	matches := ptrnWithMsg.FindStringSubmatch(ptrn)
-	for i, name := range ptrnWithMsg.SubexpNames() {
-		if name == "msg" {
-			p.msg = matches[i]
-		} else if name == "pattern" {
-			re, err := regexp.Compile(matches[i])
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to compile pattern `%s`: %s", matches[i], err)
-			}
-			p.pattern = re
+	parsedPattern, err := syntax.Parse(ptrn, syntax.Perl)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to parse pattern: %s: %s", ptrn, err)
+	}
+	if len(parsedPattern.Sub) == 0 {
+		p.pattern, err = regexp.Compile(parsedPattern.String())
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to compile pattern: %s: %s", ptrn, err)
 		}
+		return p, nil
+	}
+	p.pattern, err = regexp.Compile(parsedPattern.Sub[0].String())
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to compile pattern: %s: %s", ptrn, err)
+	}
+	if len(parsedPattern.Sub) < 2 {
+		return p, nil
 	}
+	msgPattern := deepestSubmatch(parsedPattern).String()
+	p.msg = strings.TrimSpace(strings.TrimPrefix(msgPattern, "#"))
 
 	return p, nil
 }
+
+func deepestSubmatch(expr *syntax.Regexp) *syntax.Regexp {
+	for {
+		if len(expr.Sub) == 0 {
+			return expr
+		}
+		expr = expr.Sub[len(expr.Sub)-1]
+	}
+}
diff --git a/forbidigo/patterns_test.go b/forbidigo/patterns_test.go
index 729a87d..2ac5b8b 100644
--- a/forbidigo/patterns_test.go
+++ b/forbidigo/patterns_test.go
@@ -13,16 +13,13 @@ func TestParseValidPattern(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, `fmt\.Errorf`, ptrn.pattern.String())
 }
 
-func TestParseValidPatternThatUsesSquareBrackets(t *testing.T) {
-	ptrn, err := parse(`[f]mt\.Errorf`)
-	require.Nil(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, `[f]mt\.Errorf`, ptrn.pattern.String())
-}
-
 func TestParseValidPatternWithCustomMessage(t *testing.T) {
-	ptrn, err := parse(`#[Please don't use this!]fmt\.Println`)
+	ptrn, err := parse(`fmt\.Println(# Please don't use this!)?`)
 	require.Nil(t, err)
+
+	// Remove custom message from pattern so as not to duplicate it in the output.
 	assert.Equal(t, `fmt\.Println`, ptrn.pattern.String())
+
 	assert.Equal(t, "Please don't use this!", ptrn.msg)
 }