diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands.hs
index c11c2d0bc..3e7710f97 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands.hs
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ multicol _ [] = []
 multicol width strs =
   let
     maxwidth = maximum' $ map length strs
-    numcols = width `div` (maxwidth+2)
+    numcols = min (length strs) (width `div` (maxwidth+2))
     itemspercol = length strs `div` numcols
     colitems = chunksOf itemspercol strs
     cols = map unlines colitems