--- a/babel/messages/catalog.py
+++ b/babel/messages/catalog.py
@@ -28,14 +28,12 @@
 from babel.core import Locale
 from babel.dates import format_datetime
 from babel.messages.plurals import PLURALS
-from babel.util import odict, distinct, LOCALTZ, UTC, FixedOffsetTimezone
+from babel.util import odict, distinct, LOCALTZ, UTC, FixedOffsetTimezone, \
+     PYTHON_FORMAT
 
 __all__ = ['Message', 'Catalog', 'TranslationError']
 __docformat__ = 'restructuredtext en'
 
-PYTHON_FORMAT = re.compile(r'\%(\([\w]+\))?([-#0\ +])?(\*|[\d]+)?'
-                           r'(\.(\*|[\d]+))?([hlL])?[diouxXeEfFgGcrs]')
-
 
 class Message(object):
     """Representation of a single message in a catalog."""