diff --git a/codespell_lib/_codespell.py b/codespell_lib/_codespell.py
index 7d490c66..edf259e2 100755
--- a/codespell_lib/_codespell.py
+++ b/codespell_lib/_codespell.py
@@ -28,8 +28,11 @@ import sys
 import textwrap
 
 word_regex_def = u"[\\w\\-'’`]+"
-uri_regex_def = (u"\\b((?:https?|t?ftp|file|git|smb)://[^\\s'\"]*|"
-                 u"[\\w.%+-]+@[\\w.-]+)\\b")
+# While we want to treat characters like ( or " as okay for a starting break,
+# these may occur unescaped in URIs, and so we are more restrictive on the
+# endpoint.  Emails are more restrictive, so the endpoint remains flexible.
+uri_regex_def = (u"(\\b(?:https?|t?ftp|file|git|smb)://[^\\s]+(?=$|\\s)|"
+                 u"\\b[\\w.%+-]+@[\\w.-]+\\b)")
 encodings = ('utf-8', 'iso-8859-1')
 USAGE = """
 \t%prog [OPTIONS] [file1 file2 ... fileN]
@@ -307,6 +310,10 @@ def parse_options(args):
                              'underscore, the hyphen, and the apostrophe is '
                              'used to build words. This option cannot be '
                              'specified together with --write-changes.')
+    parser.add_argument('--uri-regex',
+                        action='store', type=str,
+                        help='regular expression which is used to find URIs '
+                             'and emails. A default expression is provided.')
     parser.add_argument('-s', '--summary',
                         action='store_true', default=False,
                         help='print summary of fixes')
@@ -731,7 +738,14 @@ def main(*args):
             return EX_USAGE
         build_ignore_words(ignore_words_file, ignore_words)
 
-    uri_regex = re.compile(uri_regex_def)
+    uri_regex = options.uri_regex or uri_regex_def
+    try:
+        uri_regex = re.compile(uri_regex)
+    except re.error as err:
+        print("ERROR: invalid --uri-regex \"%s\" (%s)" %
+              (uri_regex, err), file=sys.stderr)
+        parser.print_help()
+        return EX_USAGE
     uri_ignore_words = parse_ignore_words_option(options.uri_ignore_words_list)
 
     if options.dictionary:
diff --git a/codespell_lib/tests/test_basic.py b/codespell_lib/tests/test_basic.py
index 931c548d..f510c1d6 100644
--- a/codespell_lib/tests/test_basic.py
+++ b/codespell_lib/tests/test_basic.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import contextlib
 import inspect
 import os
 import os.path as op
+import re
 from shutil import copyfile
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@ import sys
 import pytest
 
 import codespell_lib as cs_
-from codespell_lib._codespell import EX_USAGE, EX_OK, EX_DATAERR
+from codespell_lib._codespell import uri_regex_def, EX_USAGE, EX_OK, EX_DATAERR
 
 
 def test_constants():
@@ -488,6 +489,40 @@ def test_ignore_regex_option(tmpdir, capsys):
     assert cs.main(f.name, r'--ignore-regex=\bdonn\b') == 1
 
 
+def test_uri_regex_option(tmpdir, capsys):
+    """Test --uri-regex option functionality."""
+    d = str(tmpdir)
+
+    # Invalid regex.
+    code, stdout, _ = cs.main('--uri-regex=(', std=True)
+    assert code == EX_USAGE
+    assert 'usage:' in stdout
+
+    with open(op.join(d, 'flag.txt'), 'w') as f:
+        f.write('# Please see http://abandonned.com for info\n')
+
+    # By default, the standard regex is used.
+    assert cs.main(f.name) == 1
+    assert cs.main(f.name, '--uri-ignore-words-list=abandonned') == 0
+
+    # If empty, nothing matches.
+    assert cs.main(f.name, '--uri-regex=',
+                   '--uri-ignore-words-list=abandonned') == 0
+
+    # Can manually match urls.
+    assert cs.main(f.name, '--uri-regex=\\bhttp.*\\b',
+                   '--uri-ignore-words-list=abandonned') == 0
+
+    # Can also match arbitrary content.
+    with open(op.join(d, 'flag.txt'), 'w') as f:
+        f.write('abandonned')
+    assert cs.main(f.name) == 1
+    assert cs.main(f.name, '--uri-ignore-words-list=abandonned') == 1
+    assert cs.main(f.name, '--uri-regex=.*') == 1
+    assert cs.main(f.name, '--uri-regex=.*',
+                   '--uri-ignore-words-list=abandonned') == 0
+
+
 def test_uri_ignore_words_list_option_uri(tmpdir, capsys):
     """Test ignore regex option functionality."""
     d = str(tmpdir)
@@ -522,6 +557,7 @@ def test_uri_ignore_words_list_option_uri(tmpdir, capsys):
     # Variations where an error is ignored.
     for variation in ('# Please see http://abandonned for info\n',
                       '# Please see "http://abandonned" for info\n',
+                      '# Please see "http://foo"abandonned for info\n',
                       '# Please see https://abandonned for info\n',
                       '# Please see ftp://abandonned for info\n',
                       '# Please see http://example/abandonned for info\n',
@@ -540,8 +576,7 @@ def test_uri_ignore_words_list_option_uri(tmpdir, capsys):
     for variation in ('# Please see abandonned/ for info\n',
                       '# Please see http:abandonned for info\n',
                       '# Please see foo/abandonned for info\n',
-                      '# Please see http://foo abandonned for info\n',
-                      '# Please see "http://foo"abandonned for info\n'):
+                      '# Please see http://foo abandonned for info\n'):
         with open(op.join(d, 'flag.txt'), 'w') as f:
             f.write(variation)
         assert cs.main(f.name) == 1, variation
@@ -596,6 +631,99 @@ def test_uri_ignore_words_list_option_email(tmpdir, capsys):
         assert cs.main(f.name, variation_option) == 1, variation
 
 
+def test_uri_regex_def():
+    uri_regex = re.compile(uri_regex_def)
+
+    # Tests based on https://mathiasbynens.be/demo/url-regex
+    true_positives = (
+        'http://foo.com/blah_blah',
+        'http://foo.com/blah_blah/',
+        'http://foo.com/blah_blah_(wikipedia)',
+        'http://foo.com/blah_blah_(wikipedia)_(again)',
+        'http://www.example.com/wpstyle/?p=364',
+        'https://www.example.com/foo/?bar=baz&inga=42&quux',
+        'http://✪df.ws/123',
+        'http://userid:password@example.com:8080',
+        'http://userid:password@example.com:8080/',
+        'http://userid@example.com',
+        'http://userid@example.com/',
+        'http://userid@example.com:8080',
+        'http://userid@example.com:8080/',
+        'http://userid:password@example.com',
+        'http://userid:password@example.com/',
+        'http://142.42.1.1/',
+        'http://142.42.1.1:8080/',
+        'http://➡.ws/䨹',
+        'http://⌘.ws',
+        'http://⌘.ws/',
+        'http://foo.com/blah_(wikipedia)#cite-1',
+        'http://foo.com/blah_(wikipedia)_blah#cite-1',
+        'http://foo.com/unicode_(✪)_in_parens',
+        'http://foo.com/(something)?after=parens',
+        'http://☺.damowmow.com/',
+        'http://code.google.com/events/#&product=browser',
+        'http://j.mp',
+        'ftp://foo.bar/baz',
+        'http://foo.bar/?q=Test%20URL-encoded%20stuff',
+        'http://مثال.إختبار',
+        'http://例子.测试',
+        'http://उदाहरण.परीक्षा',
+        "http://-.~_!$&'()*+,;=:%40:80%2f::::::@example.com",
+        'http://1337.net',
+        'http://a.b-c.de',
+        'http://223.255.255.254',
+    )
+    true_negatives = (
+        'http://',
+        '//',
+        '//a',
+        '///a',
+        '///',
+        'foo.com',
+        'rdar://1234',
+        'h://test',
+        '://should.fail',
+        'ftps://foo.bar/',
+    )
+    false_positives = (
+        'http://.',
+        'http://..',
+        'http://../',
+        'http://?',
+        'http://??',
+        'http://??/',
+        'http://#',
+        'http://##',
+        'http://##/',
+        'http:///a',
+        'http://-error-.invalid/',
+        'http://a.b--c.de/',
+        'http://-a.b.co',
+        'http://a.b-.co',
+        'http://0.0.0.0',
+        'http://10.1.1.0',
+        'http://10.1.1.255',
+        'http://224.1.1.1',
+        'http://1.1.1.1.1',
+        'http://123.123.123',
+        'http://3628126748',
+        'http://.www.foo.bar/',
+        'http://www.foo.bar./',
+        'http://.www.foo.bar./',
+        'http://10.1.1.1',
+    )
+
+    boilerplate = 'Surrounding text %s more text'
+
+    for uri in true_positives + false_positives:
+        assert uri_regex.findall(uri) == [uri], uri
+        assert uri_regex.findall(boilerplate % uri) == [uri], uri
+
+    for uri in true_negatives:
+        assert not uri_regex.findall(uri), uri
+        assert not uri_regex.findall(boilerplate % uri), uri
+
+
 @contextlib.contextmanager
 def FakeStdin(text):
     if sys.version[0] == '2':