diff --git a/doc/pages/options.asciidoc b/doc/pages/options.asciidoc
index 49627108..4f69cbfb 100644
--- a/doc/pages/options.asciidoc
+++ b/doc/pages/options.asciidoc
@@ -377,6 +377,10 @@ are exclusively available to built-in options.
             reduce terminal output with sequences that could trigger flickering
             if unsynchronized (defaults to *false*)
 
+        *terminal_info_max_width*:::
+            set the maximum allowable width of an info box. set to zero for
+            no limit.
+
 [[startup-info]]
 *startup_info_version* `int`::
     _default_ 0 +
diff --git a/src/main.cc b/src/main.cc
index 6e4415cf..8ce47d8e 100644
--- a/src/main.cc
+++ b/src/main.cc
@@ -567,7 +567,8 @@ void register_options()
                        "    terminal_wheel_scroll_amount   int\n"
                        "    terminal_shift_function_key    int\n"
                        "    terminal_padding_char          codepoint\n"
-                       "    terminal_padding_fill          bool\n",
+                       "    terminal_padding_fill          bool\n"
+                       "    terminal_info_max_width        int\n",
                        UserInterface::Options{});
     reg.declare_option("modelinefmt", "format string used to generate the modeline",
                        "%val{bufname} %val{cursor_line}:%val{cursor_char_column} {{context_info}} {{mode_info}} - %val{client}@[%val{session}]"_str);
diff --git a/src/terminal_ui.cc b/src/terminal_ui.cc
index 9d6cf4b0..311c2527 100644
--- a/src/terminal_ui.cc
+++ b/src/terminal_ui.cc
@@ -1264,7 +1264,9 @@ void TerminalUI::info_show(const DisplayLine& title, const DisplayLineList& cont
     else if (style != InfoStyle::Modal)
         max_size.line -= m_menu.size.line;
 
-    const auto max_content_width = max_size.column - (framed ? 4 : 2) - (assisted ? m_assistant[0].column_length() : 0);
+    const auto max_content_width = (m_info_max_width > 0 ? std::min(max_size.column, m_info_max_width) : max_size.column) -
+                                   (framed ? 4 : 2) -
+                                   (assisted ? m_assistant[0].column_length() : 0);
     if (max_content_width <= 0)
         return;
 
@@ -1495,6 +1497,8 @@ void TerminalUI::set_ui_options(const Options& options)
 
     m_padding_char = find("terminal_padding_char").map([](StringView s) { return s.column_length() < 1 ? ' ' : s[0_char]; }).value_or(Codepoint{'~'});
     m_padding_fill = find("terminal_padding_fill").map(to_bool).value_or(false);
+
+    m_info_max_width = find("terminal_info_max_width").map(str_to_int_ifp).value_or(0);
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/terminal_ui.hh b/src/terminal_ui.hh
index b02cbb33..fe3f1d6b 100644
--- a/src/terminal_ui.hh
+++ b/src/terminal_ui.hh
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ private:
     void set_resize_pending();
 
     ColumnCount m_status_len = 0;
+    ColumnCount m_info_max_width = 0;
 };
 
 }