diff --git a/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/UseStringReplace.java b/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/UseStringReplace.java
index 17bee652c..a38a487cb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/UseStringReplace.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/UseStringReplace.java
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ private static class UseStringReplaceVisitor extends JavaVisitor<ExecutionContex
 
         private static final MethodMatcher REPLACE_ALL = new MethodMatcher("java.lang.String replaceAll(..)");
         private static final Pattern ESCAPED_CHARACTER = Pattern.compile("\\\\\\.");
-        private static final Pattern METACHARACTERS = Pattern.compile("[(\\[{\\\\^\\-=$!|\\]})?*+.]");
+        private static final Pattern METACHARACTERS = Pattern.compile("[(\\[{\\\\^\\-$!|\\]})?*+.]|\\?=|<=");
         private static final Pattern CHARACTER_CLASSES = Pattern.compile("\\\\d|\\\\D|\\\\s|\\\\S|\\\\w|\\\\W");
 
         @Override
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/UseStringReplaceTest.java b/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/UseStringReplaceTest.java
index 1b5291ae3..9f4003aac 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/UseStringReplaceTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/UseStringReplaceTest.java
@@ -187,4 +187,46 @@ public String method2() {
           )
         );
     }
+
+    @Test
+    @Issue("https://github.com/openrewrite/rewrite-static-analysis/issues/330")
+    void equalsSignOnlyWhenSafeToReplace() {
+        //language=java
+        rewriteRun(
+          java(
+            """
+              class A {
+                  String foo(String bar) {
+                      return bar.replaceAll("=","|");
+                  }
+              }
+              """,
+            """
+              class A {
+                  String foo(String bar) {
+                      return bar.replace("=","|");
+                  }
+              }
+              """
+          ),
+          java(
+            """
+              class B {
+                  String foo(String bar) {
+                      return bar.replaceAll("(?=x)", "#");
+                  }
+              }
+              """
+          ),
+          java(
+            """
+              class C {
+                  String foo(String bar) {
+                      return bar.replaceAll("(?<=x)", "#");
+                  }
+              }
+              """
+          )
+        );
+    }
 }