diff --git a/hitcount/conf/__init__.py b/hitcount/conf/__init__.py
index 8ac55a5..5e3fc7c 100644
--- a/hitcount/conf/__init__.py
+++ b/hitcount/conf/__init__.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ def _setup(self):
         self._wrapped = Settings(app_settings, django_settings)
 
 
-DEPRECATED_SETTINGS = {
+_DEPRECATED_SETTINGS_DJANGO = {
     'USE_TZ' if django.VERSION > (4, 0) else None,
     'PASSWORD_RESET_TIMEOUT_DAYS' if django.VERSION > (3, 0) else None,
     'DEFAULT_CONTENT_TYPE' if django.VERSION > (2, 2) else None,
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args):
             setattr(self, attr, getattr(item, attr))
             for item in args
             for attr in dir(item)
-            if attr == attr.upper() and attr.upper() not in DEPRECATED_SETTINGS
+            if attr == attr.upper() and attr.upper() not in _DEPRECATED_SETTINGS_DJANGO
         ]
 
 
diff --git a/hitcount/utils.py b/hitcount/utils.py
index 60c2520..e0c3512 100644
--- a/hitcount/utils.py
+++ b/hitcount/utils.py
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
-import re
-
 from django.apps import apps
+from django.utils.regex_helper import _lazy_re_compile
 
 from hitcount.conf import settings
 
 # this is not intended to be an all-knowing IP address regex
-IP_RE = re.compile(r'\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}')
+IP_RE = _lazy_re_compile(r'\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}')
 
 
 def get_ip(request):