diff --git a/whitespace.go b/whitespace.go
index e353a076..7f927276 100644
--- a/whitespace.go
+++ b/whitespace.go
@@ -33,11 +33,15 @@ func (w whitespace) render(width int) string {
 
 	// Cycle through runes and print them into the whitespace.
 	for i := 0; i < width; {
-		b.WriteRune(r[j])
-		// Measure the width of the rune we just wrote, ensuring we always
-		// make progress to avoid infinite loops with zero-width characters
-		// like tabs.
 		runeWidth := ansi.StringWidth(string(r[j]))
+		// Don't overshoot the target width with a wide (multi-cell) rune.
+		// Any remaining gap is padded with spaces below instead.
+		if i+runeWidth > width {
+			break
+		}
+		b.WriteRune(r[j])
+		// Ensure we always make progress to avoid infinite loops with
+		// zero-width characters like tabs.
 		if runeWidth < 1 {
 			runeWidth = 1
 		}
diff --git a/whitespace_test.go b/whitespace_test.go
index fdc1d09a..085c41c5 100644
--- a/whitespace_test.go
+++ b/whitespace_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package lipgloss
 import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/charmbracelet/x/ansi"
 )
 
 func TestWhitespaceRenderWithTab(t *testing.T) {
@@ -50,3 +52,25 @@ func TestWhitespaceRenderNormal(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("expected 5 characters, got %d", len(result))
 	}
 }
+
+func TestWhitespaceRenderWideChars(t *testing.T) {
+	// Rendering with wide (multi-cell) characters must never exceed the
+	// requested width. Any leftover cells are padded with spaces instead.
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		chars string
+		width int
+	}{
+		{"橋", 1},
+		{"橋", 3},
+		{"橋", 5},
+		{"a橋", 4},
+		{"橋", 0},
+	} {
+		ws := newWhitespace(WithWhitespaceChars(tc.chars))
+		got := ansi.StringWidth(ws.render(tc.width))
+		if got != tc.width {
+			t.Errorf("render(%d) with chars %q produced width %d, want %d",
+				tc.width, tc.chars, got, tc.width)
+		}
+	}
+}