diff --git a/src/plugins/discover/public/application/angular/doc_table/components/table_row/_cell.scss b/src/plugins/discover/public/application/angular/doc_table/components/table_row/_cell.scss
index 22b6e0f29268b..e175a2f3383e2 100644
--- a/src/plugins/discover/public/application/angular/doc_table/components/table_row/_cell.scss
+++ b/src/plugins/discover/public/application/angular/doc_table/components/table_row/_cell.scss
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+.kbnDocTableCell__dataField {
+  white-space: pre-wrap;
+}
+
 .kbnDocTableCell__toggleDetails {
   padding: $euiSizeXS 0 0 0!important;
 }
diff --git a/test/functional/apps/discover/_doc_table_newline.ts b/test/functional/apps/discover/_doc_table_newline.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..cdb1496413484
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/functional/apps/discover/_doc_table_newline.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
+ * 2.0 and the Server Side Public License, v 1; you may not use this file except
+ * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
+ * Side Public License, v 1.
+ */
+
+import { FtrProviderContext } from '../../ftr_provider_context';
+
+export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects }: FtrProviderContext) {
+  const esArchiver = getService('esArchiver');
+  const kibanaServer = getService('kibanaServer');
+  const PageObjects = getPageObjects(['common', 'discover']);
+  const find = getService('find');
+  const log = getService('log');
+  const retry = getService('retry');
+  const security = getService('security');
+
+  describe('discover doc table newline handling', function describeIndexTests() {
+    before(async function () {
+      await security.testUser.setRoles(['kibana_admin', 'kibana_message_with_newline']);
+      await esArchiver.loadIfNeeded('test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/message_with_newline');
+      await kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({
+        defaultIndex: 'newline-test',
+        'doc_table:legacy': true,
+      });
+      await PageObjects.common.navigateToApp('discover');
+    });
+    after(async () => {
+      await security.testUser.restoreDefaults();
+      esArchiver.unload('test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/message_with_newline');
+      await kibanaServer.uiSettings.unset('defaultIndex');
+      await kibanaServer.uiSettings.unset('doc_table:legacy');
+    });
+
+    it('should break text on newlines', async function () {
+      await PageObjects.discover.clickFieldListItemToggle('message');
+      const dscTableRows = await find.allByCssSelector('.kbnDocTable__row');
+
+      await retry.waitFor('height of multi-line content > single-line content', async () => {
+        const heightWithoutNewline = await dscTableRows[0].getAttribute('clientHeight');
+        const heightWithNewline = await dscTableRows[1].getAttribute('clientHeight');
+        log.debug(`Without newlines: ${heightWithoutNewline}, With newlines: ${heightWithNewline}`);
+        return Number(heightWithNewline) > Number(heightWithoutNewline);
+      });
+    });
+  });
+}
diff --git a/test/functional/apps/discover/index.ts b/test/functional/apps/discover/index.ts
index 869fb625e8796..b396f172f6961 100644
--- a/test/functional/apps/discover/index.ts
+++ b/test/functional/apps/discover/index.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ export default function ({ getService, loadTestFile }: FtrProviderContext) {
     loadTestFile(require.resolve('./_discover'));
     loadTestFile(require.resolve('./_discover_histogram'));
     loadTestFile(require.resolve('./_doc_table'));
+    loadTestFile(require.resolve('./_doc_table_newline'));
     loadTestFile(require.resolve('./_filter_editor'));
     loadTestFile(require.resolve('./_errors'));
     loadTestFile(require.resolve('./_field_data'));
diff --git a/test/functional/config.js b/test/functional/config.js
index 670488003e56c..c2c856517c58e 100644
--- a/test/functional/config.js
+++ b/test/functional/config.js
@@ -247,6 +247,20 @@ export default async function ({ readConfigFile }) {
           },
           kibana: [],
         },
+        kibana_message_with_newline: {
+          elasticsearch: {
+            cluster: [],
+            indices: [
+              {
+                names: ['message_with_newline'],
+                privileges: ['read', 'view_index_metadata'],
+                field_security: { grant: ['*'], except: [] },
+              },
+            ],
+            run_as: [],
+          },
+          kibana: [],
+        },
 
         kibana_timefield: {
           elasticsearch: {
diff --git a/test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/message_with_newline/data.json b/test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/message_with_newline/data.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..3611f2d3878a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/message_with_newline/data.json
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+{
+  "type": "doc",
+  "value": {
+    "id": "index-pattern:newline-test",
+    "index": ".kibana",
+    "source": {
+      "index-pattern": {
+        "fields": "[]",
+        "title": "newline-test"
+      },
+      "type": "index-pattern"
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+{
+  "type": "doc",
+  "value": {
+    "id": "1",
+    "index": "newline-test",
+    "source": {
+      "message" : "no new line"
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+{
+  "type": "doc",
+  "value": {
+    "id": "2",
+    "index": "newline-test",
+    "source": {
+      "message" : "two\nnew\nlines"
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/message_with_newline/mappings.json b/test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/message_with_newline/mappings.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..3e2db145e7e3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/message_with_newline/mappings.json
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{
+  "type": "index",
+  "value": {
+    "index": "newline-test",
+    "settings": {
+      "index": {
+        "number_of_replicas": "0",
+        "number_of_shards": "1"
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}