diff --git a/lib/lua/vm/stdlib/pattern.ex b/lib/lua/vm/stdlib/pattern.ex
index 953dc13..4264570 100644
--- a/lib/lua/vm/stdlib/pattern.ex
+++ b/lib/lua/vm/stdlib/pattern.ex
@@ -74,7 +74,16 @@ defmodule Lua.VM.Stdlib.Pattern do
   Global match - returns list of all matches as {start, stop, captures}.
   """
   def gmatch(subject, pattern) do
-    {_anchored, pattern_elems} = compile(pattern)
+    # Lua 5.3 §6.4.3: in gmatch a leading `^` does not work as an anchor
+    # (it would prevent the iteration). PUC-Lua's gmatch_aux never strips
+    # it, so `match` sees it as an ordinary character — recompile the
+    # pattern with the caret kept as a literal.
+    pattern_elems =
+      case compile(pattern) do
+        {false, elems} -> elems
+        {true, _elems} -> compile_elements(pattern, [])
+      end
+
     gmatch_from(subject, 0, byte_size(subject), pattern_elems, [], -1)
   end
 
@@ -121,7 +130,7 @@ defmodule Lua.VM.Stdlib.Pattern do
   `gsub_stateful/5` instead.
   """
   def gsub(subject, pattern, repl, max_n \\ nil) do
-    {_anchored, pattern_elems} = compile(pattern)
+    {anchored, pattern_elems} = compile(pattern)
 
     stateful_repl =
       if is_function(repl, 1) do
@@ -130,8 +139,7 @@ defmodule Lua.VM.Stdlib.Pattern do
         repl
       end
 
-    {result, count, _state} =
-      gsub_from(subject, 0, byte_size(subject), pattern_elems, stateful_repl, max_n, 0, [], nil, false)
+    {result, count, _state} = do_gsub(subject, anchored, pattern_elems, stateful_repl, max_n, nil)
 
     {result, count}
   end
@@ -144,8 +152,35 @@ defmodule Lua.VM.Stdlib.Pattern do
   changes back out. String and table replacements are state-pass-through.
   """
   def gsub_stateful(subject, pattern, repl, state, max_n \\ nil) do
-    {_anchored, pattern_elems} = compile(pattern)
-    gsub_from(subject, 0, byte_size(subject), pattern_elems, repl, max_n, 0, [], state, false)
+    {anchored, pattern_elems} = compile(pattern)
+    do_gsub(subject, anchored, pattern_elems, repl, max_n, state)
+  end
+
+  # A `^`-anchored pattern matches only at the start of the subject
+  # (Lua 5.3 §6.4.1), so gsub performs at most one replacement there and
+  # keeps the remainder untouched — PUC-Lua str_gsub's `anchor` flag makes
+  # its scan loop run exactly once. An unanchored pattern scans every
+  # position via gsub_from/10.
+
+  defp do_gsub(subject, true, _pattern, _repl, max_n, state) when max_n != nil and max_n <= 0 do
+    {subject, 0, state}
+  end
+
+  defp do_gsub(subject, true, pattern, repl, _max_n, state) do
+    case match_pattern(subject, 0, pattern, subject) do
+      {:match, end_pos, captures} ->
+        whole_match = binary_part(subject, 0, end_pos)
+        {replacement, state} = apply_replacement(repl, whole_match, captures, state)
+        rest = binary_part(subject, end_pos, byte_size(subject) - end_pos)
+        {IO.iodata_to_binary([replacement, rest]), 1, state}
+
+      :nomatch ->
+        {subject, 0, state}
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp do_gsub(subject, false, pattern, repl, max_n, state) do
+    gsub_from(subject, 0, byte_size(subject), pattern, repl, max_n, 0, [], state, false)
   end
 
   # Lua 5.3.3+ semantics: an empty match that starts where the *previous*
diff --git a/test/lua/vm/stdlib/pattern_anchor_test.exs b/test/lua/vm/stdlib/pattern_anchor_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fca7004
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/lua/vm/stdlib/pattern_anchor_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+defmodule Lua.VM.Stdlib.PatternAnchorTest do
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: true
+
+  # Pins Lua 5.3 §6.4.1 ^-anchor semantics for string.gsub and
+  # string.gmatch: a pattern beginning with `^` matches only at the start
+  # of the subject, so gsub performs at most one replacement and reports a
+  # count of 0 or 1 (mirrors the `anchor` handling in PUC-Lua lstrlib.c
+  # str_gsub). In gmatch a leading `^` does not anchor — PUC-Lua matches
+  # it as a literal caret (§6.4.3). Expected values verified against
+  # PUC-Lua 5.3.6.
+
+  alias Lua.VM.Stdlib.Pattern
+
+  describe "anchored string.gsub" do
+    test "replaces only the leading occurrence" do
+      assert {["Yax", 1], _} = Lua.eval!(~S|return string.gsub("xax", "^x", "Y")|)
+    end
+
+    test "replaces nothing when the subject does not start with a match" do
+      assert {["aha", 0], _} = Lua.eval!(~S|return string.gsub("aha", "^h", "H")|)
+    end
+
+    test "replaces a leading multi-char run at most once" do
+      assert {["Xabc", 1], _} = Lua.eval!(~S|return string.gsub("abcabc", "^abc", "X")|)
+    end
+
+    test "empty anchored match replaces once at the start" do
+      assert {["Xbbb", 1], _} = Lua.eval!(~S|return string.gsub("bbb", "^a*", "X")|)
+    end
+
+    test "leading-whitespace trim preserves interior and trailing whitespace" do
+      assert {["_a b  ", 1], _} = Lua.eval!(~S|return string.gsub("  a b  ", "^%s+", "_")|)
+    end
+
+    test "n = 0 suppresses the anchored replacement" do
+      assert {["xax", 0], _} = Lua.eval!(~S|return string.gsub("xax", "^x", "Y", 0)|)
+    end
+
+    test "captures reach a function replacement exactly once" do
+      script = ~S"""
+      local calls = {}
+      local s, n = string.gsub("abcabc", "^(a)(b)", function(a, b)
+        calls[#calls + 1] = a .. b
+        return "<" .. b .. a .. ">"
+      end)
+      return s, n, #calls, calls[1]
+      """
+
+      assert {["<ba>cabc", 1, 1, "ab"], _} = Lua.eval!(script)
+    end
+
+    test "anchored pattern matching the whole subject replaces it" do
+      assert {["X", 1], _} = Lua.eval!(~S|return string.gsub("abc", "^abc$", "X")|)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "leading caret in string.gmatch" do
+    test "does not anchor and does not match without a literal caret" do
+      script = ~S"""
+      local n = 0
+      for w in ("aaa"):gmatch("^a") do n = n + 1 end
+      return n
+      """
+
+      assert {[0], _} = Lua.eval!(script)
+    end
+
+    test "matches a literal caret like any other character" do
+      script = ~S"""
+      local t = {}
+      for w in ("^a ^a"):gmatch("^a") do t[#t + 1] = w end
+      return #t, t[1], t[2]
+      """
+
+      assert {[2, "^a", "^a"], _} = Lua.eval!(script)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "anchored Pattern.gsub/4" do
+    test "replaces at most once at the start" do
+      assert {"Yax", 1} = Pattern.gsub("xax", "^x", "Y")
+      assert {"aha", 0} = Pattern.gsub("aha", "^h", "H")
+    end
+
+    test "honours an explicit max_n of 0" do
+      assert {"xax", 0} = Pattern.gsub("xax", "^x", "Y", 0)
+    end
+  end
+end