diff --git a/actor-tests/src/test/scala/org/apache/pekko/actor/ActorSelectionSpec.scala b/actor-tests/src/test/scala/org/apache/pekko/actor/ActorSelectionSpec.scala
index c74d783bdaa..0b3e796993b 100644
--- a/actor-tests/src/test/scala/org/apache/pekko/actor/ActorSelectionSpec.scala
+++ b/actor-tests/src/test/scala/org/apache/pekko/actor/ActorSelectionSpec.scala
@@ -368,6 +368,23 @@ class ActorSelectionSpec extends PekkoSpec with DefaultTimeout {
       d.recipient.path.toStringWithoutAddress should ===("/user/missing")
     }
 
+    "deliver a wildcard selection promptly even when the pattern would make a regex backtrack" in {
+      val creator = TestProbe()
+      implicit def self: ActorRef = creator.ref
+      val top = system.actorOf(p, "backtrack")
+      // a 36 character child name, the length at which the old regex matching took tens of
+      // seconds for a 26 character pattern
+      val childName = "a" * 36
+      Await.result((top ? Create(childName)).mapTo[ActorRef], timeout.duration)
+
+      val probe = TestProbe()
+      val pattern = ("*a" * 12) + "*b" // cannot match: the name has no 'b'
+      val started = System.nanoTime()
+      system.actorSelection(s"/user/backtrack/$pattern").tell(Identify(4), probe.ref)
+      probe.expectMsg(3.seconds, ActorIdentity(4, None))
+      (System.nanoTime() - started) should be < 3.seconds.toNanos
+    }
+
     "identify actors with wildcard selection correctly" in {
       val creator = TestProbe()
       implicit def self: ActorRef = creator.ref
diff --git a/actor-tests/src/test/scala/org/apache/pekko/util/GlobSpec.scala b/actor-tests/src/test/scala/org/apache/pekko/util/GlobSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c03d3d0dc90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actor-tests/src/test/scala/org/apache/pekko/util/GlobSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.pekko.util
+
+import org.scalatest.concurrent.TimeLimits
+import org.scalatest.matchers.should.Matchers
+import org.scalatest.time.{ Seconds, Span }
+import org.scalatest.wordspec.AnyWordSpec
+
+class GlobSpec extends AnyWordSpec with Matchers with TimeLimits {
+
+  private def allStrings(alphabet: Seq[Char], maxLength: Int): Seq[String] = (0 to maxLength).flatMap { n =>
+    (1 to n).foldLeft(Seq("")) { (acc, _) =>
+      acc.flatMap(s => alphabet.map(s + _))
+    }
+  }
+
+  "Glob" must {
+
+    "match the literal cases" in {
+      Glob.matches("abc", "abc") should ===(true)
+      Glob.matches("abc", "abd") should ===(false)
+      Glob.matches("", "") should ===(true)
+      Glob.matches("", "a") should ===(false)
+      Glob.matches("a", "") should ===(false)
+    }
+
+    "treat ? as exactly one character" in {
+      Glob.matches("a?c", "abc") should ===(true)
+      Glob.matches("a?c", "ac") should ===(false)
+      Glob.matches("a?c", "abbc") should ===(false)
+      Glob.matches("???", "abc") should ===(true)
+    }
+
+    "treat * as any run of characters" in {
+      Glob.matches("*", "") should ===(true)
+      Glob.matches("*", "anything") should ===(true)
+      Glob.matches("a*", "a") should ===(true)
+      Glob.matches("a*c", "abbbc") should ===(true)
+      Glob.matches("a*c", "abbbd") should ===(false)
+      Glob.matches("**", "ab") should ===(true)
+      Glob.matches("*b*", "abc") should ===(true)
+    }
+
+    "agree with the regular expression it replaces, exhaustively over short inputs" in {
+      // Helpers.makePattern is what SelectChildPattern used before; matching has to be
+      // unchanged, so compare the two over every short pattern and input.
+      val patterns = allStrings(Seq('a', 'b', '*', '?'), 4)
+      val inputs = allStrings(Seq('a', 'b'), 4)
+      patterns.size should be > 300
+      for {
+        pattern <- patterns
+        regex = Helpers.makePattern(pattern)
+        input <- inputs
+      } withClue(s"pattern [$pattern] input [$input]: ") {
+        Glob.matches(pattern, input) should ===(regex.matcher(input).matches)
+      }
+    }
+
+    "match a pattern that makes the regular expression backtrack, promptly" in {
+      // 26 characters against a 36 character name. Through Helpers.makePattern this takes
+      // roughly 47 seconds on one thread; here it is immediate.
+      val pattern = ("*a" * 12) + "*b"
+      val name = "a" * 36
+      failAfter(Span(3, Seconds)) {
+        Glob.matches(pattern, name) should ===(false)
+      }
+    }
+
+    "stay prompt as the input grows" in {
+      val pattern = ("*a" * 20) + "*b"
+      failAfter(Span(5, Seconds)) {
+        Glob.matches(pattern, "a" * 2000) should ===(false)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/actor/ActorSelection.scala b/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/actor/ActorSelection.scala
index 1747c218bff..f3797efcde8 100644
--- a/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/actor/ActorSelection.scala
+++ b/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/actor/ActorSelection.scala
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import org.apache.pekko
 import pekko.dispatch.ExecutionContexts
 import pekko.pattern.ask
 import pekko.routing.MurmurHash
-import pekko.util.{ Helpers, JavaDurationConverters, Timeout }
+import pekko.util.{ Glob, Helpers, JavaDurationConverters, Timeout }
 import pekko.util.ccompat._
 import pekko.util.FutureConverters
 
@@ -273,13 +273,13 @@ object ActorSelection {
                 val chldr = refWithCell.children
                 if (iter.isEmpty) {
                   // leaf
-                  val matchingChildren = chldr.filter(c => p.pattern.matcher(c.path.name).matches)
+                  val matchingChildren = chldr.filter(c => p.matches(c.path.name))
                   if (matchingChildren.isEmpty && !sel.wildcardFanOut)
                     emptyRef.tell(sel, sender)
                   else
                     matchingChildren.foreach(_.tell(sel.msg, sender))
                 } else {
-                  val matchingChildren = chldr.filter(c => p.pattern.matcher(c.path.name).matches)
+                  val matchingChildren = chldr.filter(c => p.matches(c.path.name))
                   // don't send to emptyRef after wildcard fan-out
                   if (matchingChildren.isEmpty && !sel.wildcardFanOut)
                     emptyRef.tell(sel, sender)
@@ -355,7 +355,19 @@ private[pekko] final case class SelectChildName(name: String) extends SelectionP
  */
 @SerialVersionUID(2L)
 private[pekko] final case class SelectChildPattern(patternStr: String) extends SelectionPathElement {
-  val pattern: Pattern = Helpers.makePattern(patternStr)
+
+  /**
+   * The equivalent regular expression. Kept for compatibility and no longer used for matching:
+   * it backtracks badly on patterns with several `*`, and the pattern arrives in the message.
+   * Lazy so that deserializing a selection does not compile it.
+   */
+  lazy val pattern: Pattern = Helpers.makePattern(patternStr)
+
+  /**
+   * True if `name` matches this pattern. Runs without backtracking, see [[Glob]].
+   */
+  def matches(name: String): Boolean = Glob.matches(patternStr, name)
+
   override def toString: String = patternStr
 }
 
diff --git a/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/util/Glob.scala b/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/util/Glob.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c78356127c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/util/Glob.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.pekko.util
+
+import org.apache.pekko.annotation.InternalApi
+
+/**
+ * INTERNAL API
+ *
+ * Glob matching with the same semantics as [[Helpers.makePattern]] — `?` matches one
+ * character, `*` matches any run of characters, everything else is literal — without
+ * going through a regular expression.
+ *
+ * The regular expression `makePattern` builds turns every `*` into `.*`, and a chain of
+ * those backtracks: matching `*a*a*a*a*a*a*a*a*a*a*a*a*b`, 26 characters, against a
+ * 36 character name that cannot satisfy the trailing literal takes tens of seconds on one
+ * thread, because the engine tries every way of distributing the literals. Actor selections
+ * carry their pattern in the message, so that cost is reachable from a single small message.
+ *
+ * This matcher never revisits a decision more than once per input position, so it runs in
+ * time proportional to the product of the two lengths at worst, and linearly in practice.
+ */
+@InternalApi private[pekko] object Glob {
+
+  /**
+   * True if `input` matches the glob `pattern`.
+   */
+  def matches(pattern: String, input: String): Boolean = {
+    var p = 0 // next character of the pattern to match
+    var i = 0 // next character of the input to match
+    // where to resume from if the run consumed by the most recent `*` turns out to be too short
+    var starP = -1
+    var starI = -1
+
+    while (i < input.length) {
+      if (p < pattern.length && (pattern.charAt(p) == '?' || pattern.charAt(p) == input.charAt(i))) {
+        p += 1
+        i += 1
+      } else if (p < pattern.length && pattern.charAt(p) == '*') {
+        // remember where to come back to, and start by having the `*` consume nothing
+        starP = p
+        starI = i
+        p += 1
+      } else if (starP >= 0) {
+        // let the most recent `*` consume one more character and try again from there
+        starI += 1
+        i = starI
+        p = starP + 1
+      } else {
+        return false
+      }
+    }
+
+    // trailing `*`s may match nothing, anything else left over means no match
+    while (p < pattern.length && pattern.charAt(p) == '*') p += 1
+    p == pattern.length
+  }
+}