diff --git a/Lib/test/test_re.py b/Lib/test/test_re.py
index af6e4612dcfaef5..423b20878543466 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_re.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_re.py
@@ -2712,6 +2712,20 @@ def test_search_anchor_at_beginning(self):
         # With optimization -- 0.0003 seconds.
         self.assertLess(stopwatch.seconds, 0.1)
 
+    def test_search_anchor_at_beginning_line(self):
+        # Test "^" anchor with UCS-1, UCS-2 and UCS-4 characters.
+        p = re.compile('^a', re.MULTILINE)
+        self.assertEqual([m.span() for m in p.finditer('a\n\xe0a\na')], [(0, 1), (5, 6)])
+        self.assertEqual([m.span() for m in p.finditer('a\n\u0430a\na')], [(0, 1), (5, 6)])
+        self.assertEqual([m.span() for m in p.finditer('a\n\U0001d49ca\na')], [(0, 1), (5, 6)])
+
+    def test_search_anchor_at_beginning_line_at_end(self):
+        # "^" matches the end of the string if the string ends with a newline.
+        p = re.compile('^', re.MULTILINE)
+        self.assertEqual([m.span() for m in p.finditer('\xe0\n')], [(0, 0), (2, 2)])
+        self.assertEqual([m.span() for m in p.finditer('\u0430\n')], [(0, 0), (2, 2)])
+        self.assertEqual([m.span() for m in p.finditer('\U0001d49c\n')], [(0, 0), (2, 2)])
+
     def test_possessive_quantifiers(self):
         """Test Possessive Quantifiers
         Test quantifiers of the form @+ for some repetition operator @,
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-04-19-23-29-38.gh-issue-148762.HSCJka.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-04-19-23-29-38.gh-issue-148762.HSCJka.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..e7e3de7a96cbd3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-04-19-23-29-38.gh-issue-148762.HSCJka.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Multiline regexes starting with a caret, such as ``re.compile("^foo",
+re.MULTILINE)``, now run significantly faster.
diff --git a/Modules/_sre/sre_lib.h b/Modules/_sre/sre_lib.h
index 6e6ae46f05a50f0..fadfc8c0a1a0618 100644
--- a/Modules/_sre/sre_lib.h
+++ b/Modules/_sre/sre_lib.h
@@ -1848,6 +1848,29 @@ SRE(search)(SRE_STATE* state, SRE_CODE* pattern)
             ptr++;
             RESET_CAPTURE_GROUP();
         }
+    } else if (pattern[0] == SRE_OP_AT &&
+               pattern[1] == SRE_AT_BEGINNING_LINE) {
+        /* pattern is anchored at the start of a line (MULTILINE "^").
+           Only the start of the string and the character after a linebreak
+           can match, so jump from one line start to the next instead of
+           trying SRE(match) at every position. */
+        end = (SRE_CHAR *)state->end;
+        TRACE(("|%p|%p|SEARCH AT_BEGINNING_LINE\n", pattern, ptr));
+        state->start = state->ptr = ptr;
+        status = SRE(match)(state, pattern, 1);
+        state->must_advance = 0;
+        while (status == 0) {
+            /* skip to the next linebreak ... */
+            while (ptr < end && !SRE_IS_LINEBREAK(*ptr))
+                ptr++;
+            if (ptr >= end)
+                return 0;
+            ptr++;  /* ... and step past it, onto a line start */
+            RESET_CAPTURE_GROUP();
+            TRACE(("|%p|%p|SEARCH AT_BEGINNING_LINE\n", pattern, ptr));
+            state->start = state->ptr = ptr;
+            status = SRE(match)(state, pattern, 0);
+        }
     } else {
         /* general case */
         assert(ptr <= end);