diff --git a/lib/index.ts b/lib/index.ts
index 48dd22d9..623ae96d 100644
--- a/lib/index.ts
+++ b/lib/index.ts
@@ -180,14 +180,13 @@ export class UI {
         if (padding[right]) {
           str += ' '.repeat(padding[right])
         }
-
-        // if prior row is span, try to render the
-        // current row on the prior line.
-        if (r === 0 && lines.length > 0) {
-          str = this.renderInline(str, lines[lines.length - 1])
-        }
       })
 
+      // if prior row is span, try to render the complete row on the prior line.
+      if (r === 0 && lines.length > 0) {
+        str = this.renderInline(str, lines[lines.length - 1])
+      }
+
       // remove trailing whitespace.
       lines.push({
         text: str.replace(/ +$/, ''),
@@ -217,13 +216,16 @@ export class UI {
       return target + source
     }
 
-    if (leadingWhitespace < targetTextWidth) {
+    const sourceText = source.trimLeft()
+    // Keep separate pieces of visible text from running into each other.
+    const minimumGap = targetTextWidth > 0 && mixin.stringWidth(sourceText) > 0 ? 1 : 0
+    if (leadingWhitespace < targetTextWidth + minimumGap) {
       return source
     }
 
     previousLine.hidden = true
 
-    return target.trimRight() + ' '.repeat(leadingWhitespace - targetTextWidth) + source.trimLeft()
+    return target.trimRight() + ' '.repeat(leadingWhitespace - targetTextWidth) + sourceText
   }
 
   private rasterize (row: ColumnArray) {
diff --git a/test/cliui.mjs b/test/cliui.mjs
index b2d5aa02..e7cdb4de 100644
--- a/test/cliui.mjs
+++ b/test/cliui.mjs
@@ -279,6 +279,62 @@ describe('cliui', () => {
   })
 
   describe('span', () => {
+    describe('span boundary', () => {
+      for (const [name, text] of [
+        ['plain text', '1234567890'],
+        ['ANSI text', '\u001b[32m1234567890\u001b[39m'],
+        ['wide text', '漢字漢字漢']
+      ]) {
+        it(`starts a new line when ${name} leaves no separating space`, () => {
+          const ui = cliui({ width: 20 })
+          ui.span(text)
+          ui.div({ text: '[boolean]', padding: [0, 0, 0, 10] })
+
+          stripAnsi(ui.toString()).should.equal(`${stripAnsi(text)}\n          [boolean]`)
+        })
+      }
+
+      it('appends text when one separating space fits', () => {
+        const ui = cliui({ width: 20 })
+        ui.span('123456789')
+        ui.div({ text: '[boolean]', padding: [0, 0, 0, 10] })
+
+        ui.toString().should.equal('123456789 [boolean]')
+      })
+
+      it('checks the boundary after assembling all columns', () => {
+        const ui = cliui({ width: 20 })
+        ui.span('1234567890')
+        ui.div({ text: '', width: 10 }, { text: '[boolean]', width: 10 })
+
+        ui.toString().should.equal('1234567890\n          [boolean]')
+      })
+
+      it('appends a multi-column row only once when wrapping is disabled', () => {
+        const ui = cliui({ width: 20, wrap: false })
+        ui.span('prefix')
+        ui.div('first', 'second')
+
+        ui.toString().should.equal('prefixfirstsecond')
+      })
+
+      it('does not introduce a blank line for an empty span', () => {
+        const ui = cliui({ width: 20 })
+        ui.span('')
+        ui.div('[boolean]')
+
+        ui.toString().should.equal('[boolean]')
+      })
+
+      it('does not introduce a blank line for an empty following column', () => {
+        const ui = cliui({ width: 20 })
+        ui.span('1234567890')
+        ui.div({ text: '', padding: [0, 0, 0, 10] })
+
+        ui.toString().should.equal('1234567890')
+      })
+    })
+
     it('appends the next row to the end of the prior row if it fits', () => {
       const ui = cliui({
         width: 40