diff --git a/index.d.ts b/index.d.ts
index e7fc8d6..09a2b94 100644
--- a/index.d.ts
+++ b/index.d.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ declare module './locale/*.js' {
 declare const durationRE: RegExp;
 
 declare namespace parse {
-  const unit: Units;
+  let unit: Units;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 7d38fa1..bba3cb2 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1,37 +1,36 @@
 import en from './locale/en.js'
 
-const durationRE = /(-?(?:\d+\.?\d*|\d*\.?\d+)(?:e[-+]?\d+)?)\s*([\p{L}]*)/uig
+const durationRE = /((?:\d{1,16}(?:\.\d{1,16})?|\.\d{1,16})(?:[eE][-+]?\d{1,4})?)\s?([\p{L}]{0,14})/gu
 
 parse.unit = en
 
 /**
  * convert `str` to ms
  *
- * @param {String} str
- * @param {String} format
- * @return {Number}
+ * @param {string} str
+ * @param {string} format
+ * @return {number}
  */
 export default function parse(str = '', format = 'ms') {
   let result = null, prevUnits
 
-  (str + '')
-    .replace(/(\d)[_ ](\d)/g, '$1$2')     // ignore placeholders
-    .replaceAll(parse.unit.group, '')     // remove group separator
-    .replaceAll(parse.unit.decimal, '.')  // normalize decimal separator
+  String(str)
+    .replace(new RegExp(`(\\d)[${parse.unit.placeholder}${parse.unit.group}](\\d)`, 'g'), '$1$2')  // clean up group separators / placeholders
+    .replace(parse.unit.decimal, '.') // normalize decimal separator
     .replace(durationRE, (_, n, units) => {
     // if no units, find next smallest units or fall back to format value
     // eg. 1h30 -> 1h30m
     if (!units) {
       if (prevUnits) {
-        for (var u in parse.unit) if (parse.unit[u] < prevUnits) { units = u; break }
+        for (const u in parse.unit) if (parse.unit[u] < prevUnits) { units = u; break }
       }
       else units = format
     }
     else units = units.toLowerCase()
 
-    units = parse.unit[units] || parse.unit[units.replace(/s$/, '')]
+    prevUnits = units = parse.unit[units] || parse.unit[units.replace(/s$/, '')]
 
-    if (units) result = (result || 0) + Math.abs(parseFloat(n, 10)) * units, prevUnits = units
+    if (units) result = (result || 0) + n * units
   })
 
   return result && ((result / (parse.unit[format] || 1)) * (str[0] === '-' ? -1 : 1))
diff --git a/locale/en.js b/locale/en.js
index f9595ed..802fbde 100644
--- a/locale/en.js
+++ b/locale/en.js
@@ -14,5 +14,6 @@ unit.nanosecond = unit.nanosec = unit.ns = 1e-6
 
 unit.group = ','
 unit.decimal = '.'
+unit.placeholder = ' _'
 
 export default unit
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index 6d18f8d..f846782 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -167,15 +167,15 @@ t('locales', t => {
 t('locale separators', t => {
 	parse.unit = en
 	t.equal(parse('3.14 seconds'), 3140)
-	t.equal(parse('"1,23,456.789 seconds'), 123456789)
-	t.equal(parse('"1,23,456.789s'), 123456789)
-	t.equal(parse('"30,000.65 seconds'), 30000650)
+	t.equal(parse('1,23,456.789 seconds'), 123456789)
+	t.equal(parse('1,23,456.789s'), 123456789)
+	t.equal(parse('30,000.65 seconds'), 30000650)
 
 	parse.unit = de
 	t.equal(parse('3,14 seconds'), 3140)
-	t.equal(parse('"123.456,789 seconds'), 123456789)
-	t.equal(parse('"30.000,65 seconds'), 30000650)
-	t.equal(parse('"30 000,65 seconds'), 30000650)
-	t.equal(parse('"30_000,65 seconds'), 30000650)
+	t.equal(parse('123.456,789 seconds'), 123456789)
+	t.equal(parse('30.000,65 seconds'), 30000650)
+	t.equal(parse('30 000,65 seconds'), 30000650)
+	t.equal(parse('30_000,65 seconds'), 30000650)
 	t.end()
 })