diff --git a/pymysql/cursors.py b/pymysql/cursors.py
index f17611b..1792eaf 100644
--- a/pymysql/cursors.py
+++ b/pymysql/cursors.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from . import err
 #: executemany only suports simple bulk insert.
 #: You can use it to load large dataset.
 RE_INSERT_VALUES = re.compile(
-    r"\s*(INSERT\s.+\sVALUES\s+)" +
+    r"\s*((?:INSERT|REPLACE)\s.+\sVALUES?\s+)" +
     r"(\(\s*(?:%s|%\(.+\)s)\s*(?:,\s*(?:%s|%\(.+\)s)\s*)*\))" +
     r"(\s*(?:ON DUPLICATE.*)?)\Z",
     re.IGNORECASE | re.DOTALL)
@@ -163,10 +163,16 @@ class Cursor(object):
         return result
 
     def executemany(self, query, args):
+        # type: (str, list) -> int
         """Run several data against one query
 
-        PyMySQL can execute bulkinsert for query like 'INSERT ... VALUES (%s)'.
-        In other form of queries, just run :meth:`execute` many times.
+        :param query: query to execute on server
+        :param args:  Sequence of sequences or mappings.  It is used as parameter.
+        :return: Number of rows affected, if any.
+
+        This method improves performance on multiple-row INSERT and
+        REPLACE. Otherwise it is equivalent to looping over args with
+        execute().
         """
         if not args:
             return