diff --git a/Text/Regex/TDFA/CorePattern.hs b/Text/Regex/TDFA/CorePattern.hs
--- a/Text/Regex/TDFA/CorePattern.hs
+++ b/Text/Regex/TDFA/CorePattern.hs
@@ -151,6 +151,17 @@
   (test,tags') <- nv
   return (test,tags `mappend` tags')
 
+-- For PStar, need to put in the orbit TagTasks
+orbitWrapNullView :: Maybe Tag -> [Tag] -> NullView -> NullView
+orbitWrapNullView mOrbit orbitResets oldNV =
+  case (mOrbit,orbitResets) of
+    (Nothing,[]) -> oldNV
+    (Nothing,_) -> do (oldTests,oldTasks) <- oldNV
+                      return (oldTests,prepend oldTasks)
+    (Just o,_) -> do (oldTests,oldTasks) <- oldNV
+                     return (oldTests,prepend $ [(o,PreUpdate EnterOrbitTask)] ++ oldTasks ++ [(o,PreUpdate LeaveOrbitTask)])
+  where prepend = foldr (\h t -> (h:).t) id . map (\tag->(tag,PreUpdate ResetOrbitTask)) $ orbitResets
+
 -- For PGroup, need to prepend reset tasks before others in nullView
 addResetsToNullView :: [Tag]-> NullView -> NullView
 addResetsToNullView resetTags nv = [ (test, prepend tags) | (test,tags) <- nv ]
@@ -387,7 +398,13 @@
            b <- if noTag m2 && needsTags then uniq Maximize else return m2
            c <- if needsOrbit then makeOrbit else return Nothing -- any Orbit tag is created after the pre and post tags
            (q,resetTags) <- withOrbit (go p NoTag NoTag)
-           let nullView = emptyNull (winTags (apply a) (apply b)) -- chosen to represent skipping sub-pattern
+-- 2009-02-09 eliminate because this breaks (()*)* and ((.?)*)*
+--           let nullView = emptyNull (winTags (apply a) (apply b)) -- chosen to represent skipping sub-pattern
+           let nullView | mayFirstBeNull = cleanNullView $ childViews ++ skipView
+                        | otherwise = skipView
+                 where childViews = addTagsToNullView (winTags (apply a) (apply b)) 
+                                  . orbitWrapNullView c resetTags $ nullQ q
+                       skipView = emptyNull (winTags (apply a) (apply b))
            return $ Q nullView
                       (0,if accepts then Nothing else (Just 0))
                       [] (apply a) (apply b)
diff --git a/Text/Regex/TDFA/RunMutState.hs b/Text/Regex/TDFA/RunMutState.hs
--- a/Text/Regex/TDFA/RunMutState.hs
+++ b/Text/Regex/TDFA/RunMutState.hs
@@ -332,6 +332,10 @@
       postTag = succ preTag
   if n==0
     then do
+      -- new change with 0.97.3: clear these 3 fields as we are stealing the allocated data!
+      unsafeWrite (m_pos s1) i1 Nothing
+      unsafeWrite (m_flag s1) i1 Nothing
+      unsafeWrite (m_orbit s1) i1 mempty
       mapM_ (\(tag,v) -> unsafeWrite pos1 tag (val v)) (newPos ins)
       mapM_ (\(tag,f) -> unsafeWrite flag1 tag (f)) (newFlags ins)
       case mw of
diff --git a/regex-tdfa.cabal b/regex-tdfa.cabal
--- a/regex-tdfa.cabal
+++ b/regex-tdfa.cabal
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 Name:                   regex-tdfa
-Version:                0.97.1
+Version:                0.97.3
 -- 0.97.1: Bug Fix: Use PGroup Nothing when expanding PBound
+-- 0.97.2: Bug Fix: Use more complex null view in PStar when mayFirstBeNull, fix (()*)* and ((.?)*)*
+-- 0.97.3: Bug Fix: RunMutState.updateWinning was borking the input state (.*)*...?()|. on 123456
 Cabal-Version:          >=1.2.3
 License:                BSD3
 License-File:           LICENSE