diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 76ad68a..4e12322 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+Version 2.0.3
+2009-10-28
+Use LW:SIMPLE-TEXT-STRING throughout for LispWorks
+
 Version 2.0.2
 2009-09-17
 Fixed typo in chartest.lisp (caught by Peter Seibel)
diff --git a/cl-ppcre.asd b/cl-ppcre.asd
index 0e1e688..63798ad 100644
--- a/cl-ppcre.asd
+++ b/cl-ppcre.asd
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ;;; -*- Mode: LISP; Syntax: COMMON-LISP; Package: CL-USER; Base: 10 -*-
-;;; $Header: /usr/local/cvsrep/cl-ppcre/cl-ppcre.asd,v 1.48 2009/09/17 19:17:30 edi Exp $
+;;; $Header: /usr/local/cvsrep/cl-ppcre/cl-ppcre.asd,v 1.49 2009/10/28 07:36:15 edi Exp $
 
 ;;; This ASDF system definition was kindly provided by Marco Baringer.
 
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 (in-package :cl-ppcre-asd)
 
 (defsystem :cl-ppcre
-  :version "2.0.2"
+  :version "2.0.3"
   :serial t
   :components ((:file "packages")
                (:file "specials")
diff --git a/doc/index.html b/doc/index.html
index 5108afa..8a3b41b 100644
--- a/doc/index.html
+++ b/doc/index.html
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ href="http://weitz.de/regex-coach/">The Regex Coach</a>.
 
 CL-PPCRE together with this documentation can be downloaded from <a
 href="http://weitz.de/files/cl-ppcre.tar.gz">http://weitz.de/files/cl-ppcre.tar.gz</a>. The
-current version is 2.0.2.
+current version is 2.0.3.
 <p>
 CL-PPCRE comes with a system definition
 for <a href="http://www.cliki.net/asdf">ASDF</a> and you compile and
@@ -2208,7 +2208,7 @@ me her PowerBook to test early versions of CL-PPCRE with MCL and
 OpenMCL.
 
 <p>
-$Header: /usr/local/cvsrep/cl-ppcre/doc/index.html,v 1.199 2009/09/17 19:13:00 edi Exp $
+$Header: /usr/local/cvsrep/cl-ppcre/doc/index.html,v 1.200 2009/10/28 07:36:31 edi Exp $
 <p><a href="http://weitz.de/index.html">BACK TO MY HOMEPAGE</a>
 
 </body>
diff --git a/regex-class.lisp b/regex-class.lisp
index b35ef59..fb89c25 100644
--- a/regex-class.lisp
+++ b/regex-class.lisp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ;;; -*- Mode: LISP; Syntax: COMMON-LISP; Package: CL-PPCRE; Base: 10 -*-
-;;; $Header: /usr/local/cvsrep/cl-ppcre/regex-class.lisp,v 1.43 2009/09/17 19:17:31 edi Exp $
+;;; $Header: /usr/local/cvsrep/cl-ppcre/regex-class.lisp,v 1.44 2009/10/28 07:36:15 edi Exp $
 
 ;;; This file defines the REGEX class.  REGEX objects are used to
 ;;; represent the (transformed) parse trees internally
@@ -248,7 +248,12 @@ defined by the user."))
   (declare (ignore init-args))
   "Automatically computes the length of a STR after initialization."
   (let ((str-slot (slot-value str 'str)))
-    (unless (typep str-slot 'simple-string)
-      (setf (slot-value str 'str) (coerce str-slot 'simple-string))))
+    (unless (typep str-slot
+                   #-:lispworks 'simple-string
+                   #+:lispworks 'lw:simple-text-string)
+      (setf (slot-value str 'str)
+            (coerce str-slot
+                   #-:lispworks 'simple-string
+                   #+:lispworks 'lw:simple-text-string))))
   (setf (len str) (length (str str))))
 
diff --git a/specials.lisp b/specials.lisp
index 23d01d6..547a1ab 100644
--- a/specials.lisp
+++ b/specials.lisp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ;;; -*- Mode: LISP; Syntax: COMMON-LISP; Package: CL-PPCRE; Base: 10 -*-
-;;; $Header: /usr/local/cvsrep/cl-ppcre/specials.lisp,v 1.42 2009/09/17 19:17:32 edi Exp $
+;;; $Header: /usr/local/cvsrep/cl-ppcre/specials.lisp,v 1.43 2009/10/28 07:36:15 edi Exp $
 
 ;;; globally declared special variables
 
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ implementations like AllegroCL, CLISP, LispWorks, or SBCL.")
 (defvar *string* ""
   "The string which is currently scanned by SCAN.
 Will always be coerced to a SIMPLE-STRING.")
+#+:lispworks
+(declaim (lw:simple-text-string *string*))
+#-:lispworks
 (declaim (simple-string *string*))
 
 (defvar *start-pos* 0
diff --git a/util.lisp b/util.lisp
index 31ae3ff..8dd5fd2 100644
--- a/util.lisp
+++ b/util.lisp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ;;; -*- Mode: LISP; Syntax: COMMON-LISP; Package: CL-PPCRE; Base: 10 -*-
-;;; $Header: /usr/local/cvsrep/cl-ppcre/util.lisp,v 1.47 2009/09/17 19:17:32 edi Exp $
+;;; $Header: /usr/local/cvsrep/cl-ppcre/util.lisp,v 1.48 2009/10/28 07:36:15 edi Exp $
 
 ;;; Utility functions and constants dealing with the character sets we
 ;;; use to encode character classes
@@ -137,10 +137,15 @@ match [\\s] in Perl."
   "Coerces STRING to a simple STRING unless it already is one."
   (with-unique-names (=string=)
     `(let ((,=string= ,string))
-      (cond ((simple-string-p ,=string=)
+      (cond (#+:lispworks
+             (lw:simple-text-string-p ,=string=)
+             #-:lispworks
+             (simple-string-p ,=string=)
               ,=string=)
             (t
-              (coerce ,=string= 'simple-string))))))
+             (coerce ,=string=
+                     #+:lispworks 'lw:simple-text-string
+                     #-:lispworks 'simple-string))))))
 
 (declaim (inline nsubseq))
 (defun nsubseq (sequence start &optional (end (length sequence)))
@@ -171,7 +176,9 @@ short form of VAR-LIST."
     (dolist (string string-list)
       #-:genera (declare (string string))
       (incf total-size (length string)))
-    (let ((result-string (make-sequence 'simple-string total-size))
+    (let ((result-string (make-sequence #-:lispworks 'simple-string
+                                        #+:lispworks 'lw:simple-text-string
+                                        total-size))
           (curr-pos 0))
       (declare (fixnum curr-pos))
       (dolist (string string-list)