diff --git a/README.asciidoc b/README.asciidoc
index 7d79346b..066beab7 100644
--- a/README.asciidoc
+++ b/README.asciidoc
@@ -655,7 +655,8 @@ Some of kakoune state is available through environment variables:
  * +kak_socket+: filename of session socket (/tmp/kak-<session>)
  * +kak_client+: name of current client
  * +kak_cursor_line+: line of the end of the main selection
- * +kak_cursor_cursor+: column of the end of the main selection
+ * +kak_cursor_column+: column of the end of the main selection (in byte)
+ * +kak_cursor_char_column+: column of the end of the main selection (in character)
  * +kak_hook_param+: filtering text passed to the currently executing hook
 
 Note that in order to make only needed information available, Kakoune needs
diff --git a/src/main.cc b/src/main.cc
index e035971a..b1feb55e 100644
--- a/src/main.cc
+++ b/src/main.cc
@@ -111,6 +111,11 @@ void register_env_vars()
             "cursor_column",
             [](const String& name, const Context& context)
             { return to_string(context.editor().main_selection().last().column + 1); }
+        }, {
+            "cursor_char_column",
+            [](const String& name, const Context& context)
+            { auto coord = context.editor().main_selection().last();
+              return to_string(context.buffer()[coord.line].char_count_to(coord.column) + 1); }
         }, {
             "selection_desc",
             [](const String& name, const Context& context)