diff --git a/system/libraries/Email.php b/system/libraries/Email.php
index dd5477e..5e6f698 100644
--- a/system/libraries/Email.php
+++ b/system/libraries/Email.php
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function valid_email($address)
 	{
-		return (bool) preg_match('/^([a-z0-9\+_\-]+)(\.[a-z0-9\+_\-]+)*@([a-z0-9\-]+\.)+[a-z]{2,6}$/ix', $address);
+		return filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/system/libraries/Form_validation.php b/system/libraries/Form_validation.php
index 8e03e91..9ef5872 100644
--- a/system/libraries/Form_validation.php
+++ b/system/libraries/Form_validation.php
@@ -1076,7 +1076,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function valid_email($str)
 	{
-		return (bool) preg_match('/^([a-z0-9\+_\-]+)(\.[a-z0-9\+_\-]+)*@([a-z0-9\-]+\.)+[a-z]{2,6}$/ix', $str);
+		return filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
index c0fa9d7..cc62202 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@
 	 - ``read_file()`` is now a deprecated alias of ``file_get_contents()``.
    -  Added an optional parameter to :doc:`Date Helper <helpers/date_helper>` function ``timezone_menu()`` that allows more attributes to be added to the generated select tag.
    -  :doc:`Security Helper <helpers/security_helper>` function ``strip_image_tags()`` is now an alias for the same method in the :doc:`Security Library <libraries/security>`.
+   -  Updated email validation methods to use filter_var so they are more accurate.
 
 -  Database