diff --git a/regex-automata/src/meta/strategy.rs b/regex-automata/src/meta/strategy.rs
index ebb876b2b8..7c184a25a1 100644
--- a/regex-automata/src/meta/strategy.rs
+++ b/regex-automata/src/meta/strategy.rs
@@ -1168,6 +1168,35 @@ impl ReverseSuffix {
         }
         let kind = core.info.config().get_match_kind();
         let suffixes = crate::util::prefilter::suffixes(kind, hirs);
+        // An exact suffix literal that is also a proper suffix of another
+        // suffix literal means one alternation branch's complete match can be
+        // nested inside the tail of another branch's match. Candidate *ends*
+        // are then not ordered like match *starts*: the first confirmed
+        // candidate can yield a match that starts *later* than a still
+        // undiscovered overlapping match ending further right, violating
+        // leftmost-first. (Repro: `a|.aa` on `-#aa` reported [(2,3),(3,4)]
+        // instead of [(1,4)].) Decline the optimization in that case.
+        if let Some(lits) = suffixes.literals() {
+            for (i, a) in lits.iter().enumerate() {
+                if !a.is_exact() {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                for (j, b) in lits.iter().enumerate() {
+                    if i != j
+                        && b.as_bytes().len() > a.as_bytes().len()
+                        && b.as_bytes().ends_with(a.as_bytes())
+                    {
+                        debug!(
+                            "skipping reverse suffix optimization because \
+                             an exact suffix literal is a proper suffix of \
+                             another suffix literal (nested-end overlaps \
+                             defeat leftmost-first candidate ordering)"
+                        );
+                        return Err(core);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
         let lcs = match suffixes.longest_common_suffix() {
             None => {
                 debug!(
diff --git a/tests/regression_fuzz.rs b/tests/regression_fuzz.rs
index f90ad4cb20..e3ff572e6f 100644
--- a/tests/regression_fuzz.rs
+++ b/tests/regression_fuzz.rs
@@ -59,3 +59,20 @@ fn fail_branch_prevents_match() {
     let re = Regex::new(pat).unwrap();
     assert!(re.is_match(hay));
 }
+
+// This was caught by a differential fuzzer (REAL-regex vs this crate), and
+// then minimized by hand.
+//
+// The reverse suffix optimization processes suffix-prefilter candidates in
+// order of match *end*. When one alternation branch's entire match (an exact
+// suffix literal) is a proper suffix of another branch's suffix, a match can
+// be nested inside the tail of an overlapping match that ends later but
+// starts *earlier*. Yielding the first confirmed candidate then skips the
+// true leftmost match, and the anti-quadratic clamp makes the miss permanent.
+#[test]
+fn reverse_suffix_nested_overlap_misses_leftmost() {
+    let re = Regex::new("a|.aa").unwrap();
+    let spans: Vec<(usize, usize)> =
+        re.find_iter("-#aa").map(|m| (m.start(), m.end())).collect();
+    assert_eq!(spans, vec![(1, 4)]);
+}