diff --git a/Lib/sre_parse.py b/Lib/sre_parse.py
index fcf5bcc9fd0..9cbbc0254e8 100644
--- a/Lib/sre_parse.py
+++ b/Lib/sre_parse.py
@@ -393,6 +393,8 @@ def _parse(source, state):
                     # potential range
                     this = source.get()
                     if this == "]":
+                        if code1[0] is IN:
+                            code1 = code1[1][0]
                         set.append(code1)
                         set.append((LITERAL, ord("-")))
                         break
diff --git a/Lib/test/re_tests.py b/Lib/test/re_tests.py
index 86752244b78..7c541752f28 100755
--- a/Lib/test/re_tests.py
+++ b/Lib/test/re_tests.py
@@ -619,4 +619,6 @@ xyzabc
     (r' (?x)foo ', 'foo', SUCCEED, 'found', 'foo'),
     # bug 115618: negative lookahead
     (r'(?<!abc)(d.f)', 'abcdefdof', SUCCEED, 'found', 'dof'),
+    # bug 116251: character class bug
+    (r'[\w-]+', 'laser_beam', SUCCEED, 'found', 'laser_beam'),
 ]