diff --git a/book/src/configuration.md b/book/src/configuration.md
index 1fcd5735a80a9..63d35c68ae1b1 100644
--- a/book/src/configuration.md
+++ b/book/src/configuration.md
@@ -317,12 +317,13 @@ Currently unused
 
 Options for soft wrapping lines that exceed the view width
 
-| Key                 | Description                                                  | Default |
-| ---                 | ---                                                          | ---     |
-| `enable`            | Whether soft wrapping is enabled.                            | `false` |
-| `max-wrap`          | Maximum free space left at the end of the line.              | `20`    |
-| `max-indent-retain` | Maximum indentation to carry over when soft wrapping a line. | `40`    |
-| `wrap-indicator`    | Text inserted before soft wrapped lines, highlighted with `ui.virtual.wrap` | `↪ `    |
+| Key                  | Description                                                  | Default |
+| ---                  | ---                                                          | ---     |
+| `enable`             | Whether soft wrapping is enabled.                            | `false` |
+| `max-wrap`           | Maximum free space left at the end of the line.              | `20`    |
+| `max-indent-retain`  | Maximum indentation to carry over when soft wrapping a line. | `40`    |
+| `wrap-indicator`     | Text inserted before soft wrapped lines, highlighted with `ui.virtual.wrap` | `↪ `    |
+| `wrap-at-text-width` | Soft wrap at `text-width` instead of using the full viewport size. | `true` |
 
 Example:
 
diff --git a/helix-view/src/document.rs b/helix-view/src/document.rs
index 02cbac63d562f..034b704b11e4a 100644
--- a/helix-view/src/document.rs
+++ b/helix-view/src/document.rs
@@ -1236,13 +1236,15 @@ impl Document {
             .language_config()
             .and_then(|config| config.text_width)
             .or_else(|| config.text_width);
-        if let Some(text_width) = text_width {
-            // We increase max_line_len by 1 because softwrap considers the newline character
-            // as part of the line length while the "typical" expectation is that this is not the case.
-            // In particular other commands like :reflow do not count the line terminator.
-            // This is technically inconsistent for the last line as that line never has a line terminator
-            // but having the last visual line exceed the width by 1 seems like a rare edge case.
-            viewport_width = viewport_width.min(text_width as u16 + 1)
+        if config.soft_wrap.wrap_at_text_width {
+            if let Some(text_width) = text_width {
+                // We increase max_line_len by 1 because softwrap considers the newline character
+                // as part of the line length while the "typical" expectation is that this is not the case.
+                // In particular other commands like :reflow do not count the line terminator.
+                // This is technically inconsistent for the last line as that line never has a line terminator
+                // but having the last visual line exceed the width by 1 seems like a rare edge case.
+                viewport_width = viewport_width.min(text_width as u16 + 1)
+            }
         }
         let soft_wrap = &config.soft_wrap;
         let tab_width = self.tab_width() as u16;
diff --git a/helix-view/src/editor.rs b/helix-view/src/editor.rs
index baf4dba0b989f..278755d977880 100644
--- a/helix-view/src/editor.rs
+++ b/helix-view/src/editor.rs
@@ -302,6 +302,8 @@ pub struct SoftWrap {
     ///
     /// Defaults to ↪
     pub wrap_indicator: String,
+    /// Softwrap at `text_width` instead of viewport width if it is shorter
+    pub wrap_at_text_width: bool,
 }
 
 impl Default for SoftWrap {
@@ -311,6 +313,7 @@ impl Default for SoftWrap {
             max_wrap: 20,
             max_indent_retain: 40,
             wrap_indicator: "↪ ".into(),
+            wrap_at_text_width: true,
         }
     }
 }