diff --git a/re2/simplify.cc b/re2/simplify.cc
index aca86c2..d14483f 100644
--- a/re2/simplify.cc
+++ b/re2/simplify.cc
@@ -236,8 +236,6 @@
       nre->max_ = re->max();
     } else if (re->op() == kRegexpCapture) {
       nre->cap_ = re->cap();
-      if (re->name() != NULL)
-        nre->name_ = new string(*re->name());
     }
     return nre;
   }
@@ -497,8 +495,6 @@
       nre->AllocSub(1);
       nre->sub()[0] = newsub;
       nre->cap_ = re->cap();
-      if (re->name() != NULL)
-        nre->name_ = new string(*re->name());
       nre->simple_ = true;
       return nre;
     }
diff --git a/re2/testing/dump.cc b/re2/testing/dump.cc
index 4bdf714..9703039 100644
--- a/re2/testing/dump.cc
+++ b/re2/testing/dump.cc
@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@
       DumpRegexpAppending(re->sub()[0], s);
       break;
     case kRegexpCapture:
+      if (re->cap() == 0)
+        LOG(DFATAL) << "kRegexpCapture cap() == 0";
       if (re->name()) {
         s->append(*re->name());
         s->append(":");
diff --git a/re2/testing/simplify_test.cc b/re2/testing/simplify_test.cc
index 7604530..9db41ee 100644
--- a/re2/testing/simplify_test.cc
+++ b/re2/testing/simplify_test.cc
@@ -220,15 +220,15 @@
   // Just for fun:
   { "aa*aa+aa?aa{2}aaa{2,}aaa{2,3}a", "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa+" },
 
-  // Regression test: During coalescing, the child of the repeat changes, so
-  // we build a new repeat. The new repeat must have the min and max of the
-  // old repeat. Failure to copy them results in min=0 and max=0.
+  // During coalescing, the child of the repeat changes, so we build a new
+  // repeat. The new repeat must have the min and max of the old repeat.
+  // Failure to copy them results in min=0 and max=0 -> empty match.
   { "(?:a*aab){2}", "aa+baa+b" },
 
-  // Regression test: During coalescing, the child of the capture changes, so
-  // we build a new capture. The new capture must have the cap and name of the
-  // old capture. Failure to copy them results in cap=0 and name=NULL.
-  { "(?P<name>a*aab)", "(?P<name>aa+b)" },
+  // During coalescing, the child of the capture changes, so we build a new
+  // capture. The new capture must have the cap of the old capture.
+  // Failure to copy it results in cap=0 -> ToString() logs a fatal error.
+  { "(a*aab)", "(aa+b)" },
 };
 
 TEST(TestSimplify, SimpleRegexps) {
diff --git a/re2/tostring.cc b/re2/tostring.cc
index 5438c67..c59d4d9 100644
--- a/re2/tostring.cc
+++ b/re2/tostring.cc
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@
 
     case kRegexpCapture:
       t_->append("(");
+      if (re->cap() == 0)
+        LOG(DFATAL) << "kRegexpCapture cap() == 0";
       if (re->name()) {
         t_->append("?P<");
         t_->append(*re->name());