diff --git a/src/Fl_Text_Display.cxx b/src/Fl_Text_Display.cxx
index 829883883..fee914a3e 100644
--- a/src/Fl_Text_Display.cxx
+++ b/src/Fl_Text_Display.cxx
@@ -3133,6 +3133,7 @@ void Fl_Text_Display::wrapped_line_counter(Fl_Text_Buffer *buf, int startPos,
           break;
         }
       }
+      if (b<lineStart) b = lineStart;
       if (!foundBreak) { /* no whitespace, just break at margin */
         newLineStart = max(p, buf->next_char(lineStart));
         const char *s = buf->address(b);