diff --git a/omnibus/config/patches/datadog-agent-integrations-py2/create-regex-at-runtime.patch b/omnibus/config/patches/datadog-agent-integrations-py2/create-regex-at-runtime.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..24a4b6a4a8564
--- /dev/null
+++ b/omnibus/config/patches/datadog-agent-integrations-py2/create-regex-at-runtime.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+--- a/reader.py
++++ b/reader.py
+@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ class Reader(object):
+         self.index = 0
+         self.line = 0
+         self.column = 0
++        self._non_printable = None
+         if isinstance(stream, unicode):
+             self.name = "<unicode string>"
+             self.check_printable(stream)
+@@ -136,10 +137,15 @@ class Reader(object):
+                 self.encoding = 'utf-8'
+         self.update(1)
+
+-    if has_ucs4:
+-        NON_PRINTABLE = re.compile(u'[^\x09\x0A\x0D\x20-\x7E\x85\xA0-\uD7FF\uE000-\uFFFD\U00010000-\U0010ffff]')
+-    else:
+-        NON_PRINTABLE = re.compile(u'[^\x09\x0A\x0D\x20-\x7E\x85\xA0-\uD7FF\uE000-\uFFFD]')
++    @property
++    def NON_PRINTABLE(self):
++        if self._non_printable is None:
++            if has_ucs4:
++                self._non_printable = re.compile(u'[^\x09\x0A\x0D\x20-\x7E\x85\xA0-\uD7FF\uE000-\uFFFD\U00010000-\U0010ffff]')
++            else:
++                self._non_printable = re.compile(u'[^\x09\x0A\x0D\x20-\x7E\x85\xA0-\uD7FF\uE000-\uFFFD]')
++        return self._non_printable
++
+     def check_printable(self, data):
+         match = self.NON_PRINTABLE.search(data)
+         if match:
diff --git a/omnibus/config/software/datadog-agent-integrations-py2.rb b/omnibus/config/software/datadog-agent-integrations-py2.rb
index 97f2810a12a7f..b6c697967b568 100644
--- a/omnibus/config/software/datadog-agent-integrations-py2.rb
+++ b/omnibus/config/software/datadog-agent-integrations-py2.rb
@@ -242,6 +242,14 @@
         command "#{pip} install --no-deps .", :env => nix_build_env, :cwd => "#{project_dir}/#{check}"
       end
     end
+
+    # Patch applies to only one file: set it explicitly as a target, no need for -p
+    if windows?
+      patch :source => "create-regex-at-runtime.patch", :target => "#{python_2_embedded}/Lib/site-packages/yaml/reader.py"
+    else
+      patch :source => "create-regex-at-runtime.patch", :target => "#{install_dir}/embedded/lib/python2.7/site-packages/yaml/reader.py"
+    end
+
   end
 
   # Run pip check to make sure the agent's python environment is clean, all the dependencies are compatible
@@ -255,5 +263,4 @@
   # Used by the `datadog-agent integration` command to prevent downgrading a check to a version
   # older than the one shipped in the agent
   copy "#{project_dir}/requirements-agent-release.txt", "#{install_dir}/"
-
 end
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/use-pyyaml-patch-for-costly-regex-97dc285e26288e03.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/use-pyyaml-patch-for-costly-regex-97dc285e26288e03.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1a703b944249f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/use-pyyaml-patch-for-costly-regex-97dc285e26288e03.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Each section from every releasenote are combined when the
+# CHANGELOG.rst is rendered. So the text needs to be worded so that
+# it does not depend on any information only available in another
+# section. This may mean repeating some details, but each section
+# must be readable independently of the other.
+#
+# Each section note must be formatted as reStructuredText.
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    Use a custom patch for a costly regex in PyYAML,
+    see `<https://github.com/yaml/pyyaml/pull/301>`_.