diff --git a/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/listener/OnJoinVerifier.java b/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/listener/OnJoinVerifier.java
index 297e74c6c..38dd7d9c4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/listener/OnJoinVerifier.java
+++ b/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/listener/OnJoinVerifier.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import fr.xephi.authme.settings.properties.RegistrationSettings;
 import fr.xephi.authme.settings.properties.RestrictionSettings;
 import fr.xephi.authme.util.BukkitService;
 import fr.xephi.authme.util.StringUtils;
+import fr.xephi.authme.util.Utils;
 import fr.xephi.authme.util.ValidationService;
 import org.bukkit.Server;
 import org.bukkit.entity.Player;
@@ -56,13 +57,7 @@ class OnJoinVerifier implements Reloadable {
     @Override
     public void reload() {
         String nickRegEx = settings.getProperty(RestrictionSettings.ALLOWED_NICKNAME_CHARACTERS);
-        try {
-            nicknamePattern = Pattern.compile(nickRegEx);
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-            nicknamePattern = Pattern.compile(".*?");
-            ConsoleLogger.showError("Nickname pattern is not a valid regular expression! "
-                + "Fallback to allowing all nicknames");
-        }
+        nicknamePattern = Utils.safePatternCompile(nickRegEx);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/Utils.java b/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/Utils.java
index ae9406569..d26ae366e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/Utils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/Utils.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import org.bukkit.OfflinePlayer;
 import org.bukkit.entity.Player;
 
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 /**
  * Utility class for various operations used in the codebase.
@@ -79,6 +80,15 @@ public final class Utils {
         }
     }
 
+    public static Pattern safePatternCompile(String pattern) {
+        try {
+            return Pattern.compile(pattern);
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            ConsoleLogger.showError("Failed to compile pattern '" + pattern + "' - defaulting to allowing everything");
+            return Pattern.compile(".*?");
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns the IP of the given player.
      *
diff --git a/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/ValidationService.java b/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/ValidationService.java
index 8e72f852a..615095d00 100644
--- a/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/ValidationService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/ValidationService.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ public class ValidationService implements Reloadable {
 
     @Override
     public void reload() {
-        passwordRegex = Pattern.compile(settings.getProperty(RestrictionSettings.ALLOWED_PASSWORD_REGEX));
+        passwordRegex = Utils.safePatternCompile(settings.getProperty(RestrictionSettings.ALLOWED_PASSWORD_REGEX));
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/test/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/UtilsTest.java b/src/test/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/UtilsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..58af9b7c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/fr/xephi/authme/util/UtilsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+package fr.xephi.authme.util;
+
+import fr.xephi.authme.TestHelper;
+import org.bukkit.entity.Player;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.util.UUID;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
+import static org.mockito.BDDMockito.given;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.doThrow;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+
+/**
+ * Test for {@link Utils}.
+ */
+public class UtilsTest {
+
+    @BeforeClass
+    public static void setAuthmeInstance() {
+        TestHelper.setupLogger();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldCompilePattern() {
+        // given
+        String pattern = "gr(a|e)ys?";
+
+        // when
+        Pattern result = Utils.safePatternCompile(pattern);
+
+        // then
+        assertThat(result.toString(), equalTo(pattern));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldDefaultToAllAllowedPattern() {
+        // given
+        String invalidPattern = "gr(a|eys?"; // missing closing ')'
+
+        // when
+        Pattern result = Utils.safePatternCompile(invalidPattern);
+
+        // then
+        assertThat(result.toString(), equalTo(".*?"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldGetPlayerIp() {
+        // given
+        Player player = mock(Player.class);
+        String ip = "124.86.248.62";
+        TestHelper.mockPlayerIp(player, ip);
+
+        // when
+        String result = Utils.getPlayerIp(player);
+
+        // then
+        assertThat(result, equalTo(ip));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldGetUuid() {
+        // given
+        UUID uuid = UUID.randomUUID();
+        Player player = mock(Player.class);
+        given(player.getUniqueId()).willReturn(uuid);
+
+        // when
+        String result = Utils.getUUIDorName(player);
+
+        // then
+        assertThat(result, equalTo(uuid.toString()));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldFallbackToName() {
+        // given
+        Player player = mock(Player.class);
+        doThrow(RuntimeException.class).when(player).getUniqueId();
+        String name = "Bobby12";
+        given(player.getName()).willReturn(name);
+
+        // when
+        String result = Utils.getUUIDorName(player);
+
+        // then
+        assertThat(result, equalTo(name));
+    }
+}