diff --git a/dsl.cc b/dsl.cc
index f9f1e1b9..6912a59c 100644
--- a/dsl.cc
+++ b/dsl.cc
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ void DslDictionary::loadArticle( uint32_t address,
 
         list< wstring > lst;
 
-        expandOptionalParts( tildeValue, lst );
+        expandOptionalParts( tildeValue, &lst );
 
         if ( lst.size() ) // Should always be
           tildeValue = lst.front();
@@ -597,7 +597,7 @@ void DslDictionary::loadArticle( uint32_t address,
       str = Folding::applySimpleCaseOnly( str );
 
       list< wstring > lst;
-      expandOptionalParts( str, lst );
+      expandOptionalParts( str, &lst );
 
       // Does one of the results match the requested word? If so, we'd choose
       // it as our headword.
@@ -1500,7 +1500,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries(
                 if ( keys.size() )
                   expandTildes( curString, keys.front() );
 
-                expandOptionalParts( curString, keys );
+                expandOptionalParts( curString, &keys );
 
                 if ( !abrvScanner.readNextLine( curString, curOffset ) || curString.empty() )
                 {
@@ -1602,7 +1602,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries(
           list< wstring > allEntryWords;
 
           processUnsortedParts( curString, true );
-          expandOptionalParts( curString, allEntryWords );
+          expandOptionalParts( curString, &allEntryWords );
 
           uint32_t articleOffset = curOffset;
 
@@ -1629,7 +1629,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries(
 
             processUnsortedParts( curString, true );
             expandTildes( curString, allEntryWords.front() );
-            expandOptionalParts( curString, allEntryWords );
+            expandOptionalParts( curString, &allEntryWords );
           }
 
           if ( !hasString )
diff --git a/dsl_details.cc b/dsl_details.cc
index 0a105ab7..a2b14cb3 100644
--- a/dsl_details.cc
+++ b/dsl_details.cc
@@ -873,9 +873,13 @@ void processUnsortedParts( wstring & str, bool strip )
   }
 }
 
-void expandOptionalParts( wstring & str, list< wstring > & result,
-                          size_t x )
+void expandOptionalParts( wstring & str, list< wstring > * result,
+                          size_t x, bool inside_recurse )
 {
+  list< wstring > expanded;
+  list< wstring > * headwords;
+  headwords = inside_recurse ? result : &expanded;
+
   for( ; x < str.size(); )
   {
     wchar ch = str[ x ];
@@ -918,7 +922,7 @@ void expandOptionalParts( wstring & str, list< wstring > & result,
                 wstring removed( str, 0, x );
                 removed.append( str, y + 1, str.size() - y - 1 );
 
-                expandOptionalParts( removed, result, x );
+                expandOptionalParts( removed, headwords, x, true );
               }
 
               break;
@@ -933,10 +937,14 @@ void expandOptionalParts( wstring & str, list< wstring > & result,
           wstring removed( str, 0, x );
 
           // Limit the amount of results to avoid excessive resource consumption
-          if ( result.size() < 32 )
-            result.push_back( removed );
+          if ( headwords->size() < 32 )
+            headwords->push_back( removed );
           else
+          {
+            if( !inside_recurse )
+              result->merge( expanded );
             return;
+          }
         }
       }
 
@@ -956,8 +964,10 @@ void expandOptionalParts( wstring & str, list< wstring > & result,
   }
 
   // Limit the amount of results to avoid excessive resource consumption
-  if ( result.size() < 32 )
-    result.push_back( str );
+  if ( headwords->size() < 32 )
+    headwords->push_back( str );
+  if( !inside_recurse )
+    result->merge( expanded );
 }
 
 void expandTildes( wstring & str, wstring const & tildeReplacement )
diff --git a/dsl_details.hh b/dsl_details.hh
index 97b0af4e..9d9ab404 100644
--- a/dsl_details.hh
+++ b/dsl_details.hh
@@ -161,8 +161,8 @@ void processUnsortedParts( wstring & str, bool strip );
 
 /// Expands optional parts of a headword (ones marked with parentheses),
 /// producing all possible combinations where they are present or absent.
-void expandOptionalParts( wstring & str, list< wstring > & result,
-                          size_t x = 0 );
+void expandOptionalParts( wstring & str, list< wstring > * result,
+                          size_t x = 0, bool inside_recurse = false );
 
 /// Expands all unescaped tildes, inserting tildeReplacement text instead of
 /// them.