diff --git a/.internal/asciiWords.js b/.internal/asciiWords.js
deleted file mode 100644
index c992dfd8b..000000000
--- a/.internal/asciiWords.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-/** Used to match words composed of alphanumeric characters. */
-const reAsciiWord = /[^\x00-\x2f\x3a-\x40\x5b-\x60\x7b-\x7f]+/g
-
-/**
- * Splits an ASCII `string` into an array of its words.
- *
- * @private
- * @param {string} The string to inspect.
- * @returns {Array} Returns the words of `string`.
- */
-function asciiWords(string) {
-  return string.match(reAsciiWord) || []
-}
-
-export default asciiWords
diff --git a/.internal/hasUnicodeWord.js b/.internal/hasUnicodeWord.js
deleted file mode 100644
index d9f0faac9..000000000
--- a/.internal/hasUnicodeWord.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-/** Used to detect strings that need a more robust regexp to match words. */
-const reHasUnicodeWord = /[a-z][A-Z]|[A-Z]{2,}[a-z]|[0-9][a-zA-Z]|[a-zA-Z][0-9]|[^a-zA-Z0-9 ]/
-
-/**
- * Checks if `string` contains a word composed of Unicode symbols.
- *
- * @private
- * @param {string} string The string to inspect.
- * @returns {boolean} Returns `true` if a word is found, else `false`.
- */
-function hasUnicodeWord(string) {
-  return reHasUnicodeWord.test(string)
-}
-
-export default hasUnicodeWord
diff --git a/.internal/unicodeWords.js b/.internal/unicodeWords.js
index 232d1a699..6a1996617 100644
--- a/.internal/unicodeWords.js
+++ b/.internal/unicodeWords.js
@@ -43,8 +43,14 @@ const rsOrdUpper = '\\d*(?:(?:1ST|2ND|3RD|(?![123])\\dTH)\\b)'
 const rsSeq = rsOptVar + reOptMod + rsOptJoin
 const rsEmoji = `(?:${ [rsDingbat, rsRegional, rsSurrPair].join('|') })${ rsSeq }`
 
-/** Used to match complex or compound words. */
-const reUnicodeWord = RegExp([
+/**
+ * Splits a Unicode `string` into an array of its words.
+ *
+ * @private
+ * @param {string} The string to inspect.
+ * @returns {Array} Returns the words of `string`.
+ */
+const unicodeWords = RegExp.prototype.exec.bind(RegExp([
   `${ rsUpper }?${ rsLower }+${ rsOptContrLower }(?=${ [rsBreak, rsUpper, '$'].join('|') })`,
   `${ rsMiscUpper }+${ rsOptContrUpper }(?=${ [rsBreak, rsUpper + rsMiscLower, '$'].join('|') })`,
   `${ rsUpper }?${ rsMiscLower }+${ rsOptContrLower }`,
@@ -53,17 +59,6 @@ const reUnicodeWord = RegExp([
   rsOrdLower,
   rsDigits,
   rsEmoji
-].join('|'), 'g')
-
-/**
- * Splits a Unicode `string` into an array of its words.
- *
- * @private
- * @param {string} The string to inspect.
- * @returns {Array} Returns the words of `string`.
- */
-function unicodeWords(string) {
-  return string.match(reUnicodeWord) || []
-}
+].join('|'), 'g'))
 
 export default unicodeWords
diff --git a/words.js b/words.js
index def6ed396..65e834ef8 100644
--- a/words.js
+++ b/words.js
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
-import asciiWords from './.internal/asciiWords.js'
-import hasUnicodeWord from './.internal/hasUnicodeWord.js'
 import unicodeWords from './.internal/unicodeWords.js'
 
+const asciiWords = RegExp.prototype.exec.bind(
+  /[^\x00-\x2f\x3a-\x40\x5b-\x60\x7b-\x7f]+/g
+)
+
+const hasUnicodeWord = RegExp.prototype.test.bind(
+  /[a-z][A-Z]|[A-Z]{2,}[a-z]|[0-9][a-zA-Z]|[a-zA-Z][0-9]|[^a-zA-Z0-9 ]/
+)
+
 /**
  * Splits `string` into an array of its words.
  *
@@ -20,7 +26,8 @@ import unicodeWords from './.internal/unicodeWords.js'
  */
 function words(string, pattern) {
   if (pattern === undefined) {
-    return hasUnicodeWord(string) ? unicodeWords(string) : asciiWords(string)
+    const result = hasUnicodeWord(string) ? unicodeWords(string) : asciiWords(string)
+    return result || []
   }
   return string.match(pattern) || []
 }