diff --git a/spacy/matcher.pyx b/spacy/matcher.pyx
index 738cd8f5d..dd8e0b55c 100644
--- a/spacy/matcher.pyx
+++ b/spacy/matcher.pyx
@@ -8,9 +8,13 @@ from cymem.cymem cimport Pool
 from preshed.maps cimport PreshMap
 from libcpp.vector cimport vector
 from libcpp.pair cimport pair
+from libcpp.unordered_map cimport unordered_map as umap
+from cython.operator cimport dereference as deref
 from murmurhash.mrmr cimport hash64
 from libc.stdint cimport int32_t
 
+from libc.stdio cimport printf
+
 from .typedefs cimport attr_t
 from .typedefs cimport hash_t
 from .structs cimport TokenC
@@ -85,6 +89,11 @@ cdef struct TokenPatternC:
 ctypedef TokenPatternC* TokenPatternC_ptr
 ctypedef pair[int, TokenPatternC_ptr] StateC
 
+# Match Dictionary entry type
+cdef struct MatchEntryC:
+    int32_t start
+    int32_t end
+    int32_t offset
 
 cdef TokenPatternC* init_pattern(Pool mem, attr_t entity_id,
                                  object token_specs) except NULL:
@@ -336,8 +345,11 @@ cdef class Matcher:
         cdef int j = 0
         cdef int k
         cdef bint add_match,overlap = False
+        cdef TokenPatternC_ptr final_state
+        cdef umap[TokenPatternC_ptr,MatchEntryC] matches_dict
+        cdef umap[TokenPatternC_ptr,MatchEntryC].iterator state_match
+        cdef MatchEntryC new_match
         matches = []
-        matches_dict = {}
         for token_i in range(doc.length):
             token = &doc.c[token_i]
             q = 0
@@ -350,8 +362,18 @@ cdef class Matcher:
                 action = get_action(state.second, token)
                 j += 1
                 # Skip patterns that would overlap with an existing match
-                ent_id = get_pattern_key(state.second)
-                if ent_id in matches_dict and state.first>matches_dict[ent_id][0] and state.first<matches_dict[ent_id][1]:
+                # Patterns overlap an existing match if they point to the
+                # same final state and start between the start and end
+                # of said match.
+                # Different patterns with the same label are allowed to 
+                # overlap.
+                final_state = state.second
+                while final_state.nr_attr != 0:
+                    final_state+=1
+                state_match = matches_dict.find(final_state)
+                if (state_match != matches_dict.end() 
+                    and state.first>deref(state_match).second.start 
+                    and state.first<deref(state_match).second.end):
                     continue
                 if action == PANIC:
                     raise Exception("Error selecting action in matcher")
@@ -412,23 +434,34 @@ cdef class Matcher:
                     # to adjust the start position.
                     start = state.first
                     end = token_i+1 if action == ACCEPT else token_i
-                    # ent_id = state.second[1].attrs[0].value
+                    ent_id = state.second[1].attrs[0].value
                     # ent_id = get_pattern_key(state.second)
                     label = state.second[1].attrs[1].value
                     # Check that this match doesn't overlap with an earlier match.
                     # Only overwrite an earlier match if it is a substring of this
                     # match (i.e. it starts after this match starts).
+                    final_state = state.second+1
+                    state_match = matches_dict.find(final_state)
 
-                    if ent_id not in matches_dict:
-                        matches_dict[ent_id] = (start,end,len(matches))
+                    if state_match == matches_dict.end():
+                        new_match.start = start
+                        new_match.end = end
+                        new_match.offset = len(matches)
+                        matches_dict[final_state] = new_match
                         matches.append((ent_id,start,end))
-                    elif start >= matches_dict[ent_id][1]:
-                        matches_dict[ent_id] = (start,end,len(matches))
+                    elif start >= deref(state_match).second.end:
+                        new_match.start = start
+                        new_match.end = end
+                        new_match.offset = len(matches)
+                        matches_dict[final_state] = new_match
                         matches.append((ent_id,start,end))
-                    elif start <= matches_dict[ent_id][0] and end>=matches_dict[ent_id][1]:
-                        i = matches_dict[ent_id][2]
+                    elif start <= deref(state_match).second.start and end>=deref(state_match).second.end:
+                        i = deref(state_match).second.offset
                         matches[i] = (ent_id,start,end)
-                        matches_dict[ent_id] = (start,end,i)
+                        new_match.start = start
+                        new_match.end = end
+                        new_match.offset = i
+                        matches_dict[final_state] = new_match
                     else:
                         pass
 
@@ -438,7 +471,13 @@ cdef class Matcher:
             for pattern in self.patterns:
                 # Skip patterns that would overlap with an existing match
                 ent_id = get_pattern_key(pattern)
-                if ent_id in matches_dict and token_i>matches_dict[ent_id][0] and token_i<matches_dict[ent_id][1]:
+                final_state = pattern
+                while final_state.nr_attr != 0:
+                    final_state+=1
+                state_match = matches_dict.find(final_state)
+                if (state_match != matches_dict.end() 
+                    and token_i>deref(state_match).second.start 
+                    and token_i<deref(state_match).second.end):
                     continue
                 action = get_action(pattern, token)
                 if action == PANIC:
@@ -480,17 +519,29 @@ cdef class Matcher:
                     start = token_i
                     end = token_i+1 if action == ACCEPT else token_i
                     ent_id = pattern[1].attrs[0].value
+
                     label = pattern[1].attrs[1].value
-                    if ent_id not in matches_dict:
-                        matches_dict[ent_id] = (start,end,len(matches))
+                    final_state = pattern+1
+                    state_match = matches_dict.find(final_state)
+                    if state_match == matches_dict.end():
+                        new_match.start = start
+                        new_match.end = end
+                        new_match.offset = len(matches)
+                        matches_dict[final_state] = new_match
                         matches.append((ent_id,start,end))
-                    elif start >= matches_dict[ent_id][1]:
-                        matches_dict[ent_id] = (start,end,len(matches))
+                    elif start >= deref(state_match).second.end:
+                        new_match.start = start
+                        new_match.end = end
+                        new_match.offset = len(matches)
+                        matches_dict[final_state] = new_match
                         matches.append((ent_id,start,end))
-                    elif start <= matches_dict[ent_id][0] and end>=matches_dict[ent_id][1]:
-                        j = matches_dict[ent_id][2]
+                    elif start <= deref(state_match).second.start and end>=deref(state_match).second.end:
+                        j = deref(state_match).second.offset
                         matches[j] = (ent_id,start,end)
-                        matches_dict[ent_id] = (start,end,j)
+                        new_match.start = start
+                        new_match.end = end
+                        new_match.offset = j
+                        matches_dict[final_state] = new_match
                     else:
                         pass
 
@@ -503,16 +554,27 @@ cdef class Matcher:
                     end = len(doc)
                     ent_id = state.second.attrs[0].value
                     label = state.second.attrs[1].value
-                    if ent_id not in matches_dict:
-                        matches_dict[ent_id] = (start,end,len(matches))
+                    final_state = state.second
+                    state_match = matches_dict.find(final_state)
+                    if state_match == matches_dict.end():
+                        new_match.start = start
+                        new_match.end = end
+                        new_match.offset = len(matches)
+                        matches_dict[final_state] = new_match
                         matches.append((ent_id,start,end))
-                    elif start >= matches_dict[ent_id][1]:
-                        matches_dict[ent_id] = (start,end,len(matches))
+                    elif start >= deref(state_match).second.end:
+                        new_match.start = start
+                        new_match.end = end
+                        new_match.offset = len(matches)
+                        matches_dict[final_state] = new_match
                         matches.append((ent_id,start,end))
-                    elif start <= matches_dict[ent_id][0] and end>=matches_dict[ent_id][1]:
-                        j = matches_dict[ent_id][2]
+                    elif start <= deref(state_match).second.start and end>=deref(state_match).second.end:
+                        j = deref(state_match).second.offset
                         matches[j] = (ent_id,start,end)
-                        matches_dict[ent_id] = (start,end,j)
+                        new_match.start = start
+                        new_match.end = end
+                        new_match.offset = j
+                        matches_dict[final_state] = new_match
                     else:
                         pass
         for i, (ent_id, start, end) in enumerate(matches):