That's one solution but..
$regsub is old and ugly, nobody wants to see this guy when you have the fresh and handsome $regsubex.
$regsubex wasn't added just like that, no, it was added as a nicer version of $regsub.
Now you're telling me you want the nicer version to becomes exactly like the one it was superseding in the first place? I'm not a fan of this logic. It was made clear that you do not need this for space preservations, now the only 'valid' concern is getting the number of matches, which should be addressed, changing $regsubex's behavior to address this lack seems like a very wrong solution to me.
Making change because it's easier to update the help file? Still not my logic, but this is irrelevant here.
I didn't mean to hijack the thread with my proposed change but I think my solution is just best.
