diff --git a/mythtv/libs/libmythbase/mythcommandlineparser.cpp b/mythtv/libs/libmythbase/mythcommandlineparser.cpp
index b60130e7906..1497ef5ca63 100644
--- a/mythtv/libs/libmythbase/mythcommandlineparser.cpp
+++ b/mythtv/libs/libmythbase/mythcommandlineparser.cpp
@@ -259,6 +259,17 @@ QString CommandLineArg::GetHelpString(int off, QString group, bool force) const
     QString helpstr;
     QTextStream msg(&helpstr, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
     int termwidth = GetTermWidth();
+    if (termwidth < off)
+    {
+        if (off > 70)
+            // developer has configured some absurdly long command line
+            // arguments, but we still need to do something
+            termwidth = off+40;
+        else
+            // user is running uselessly narrow console, use a sane console
+            // width instead
+            termwidth = 79;
+    }
 
     if (m_help.isEmpty() && !force)
         // only print if there is a short help to print
diff --git a/mythtv/libs/libmythbase/mythmiscutil.cpp b/mythtv/libs/libmythbase/mythmiscutil.cpp
index 4fb0c61af7d..dc47e1d823a 100644
--- a/mythtv/libs/libmythbase/mythmiscutil.cpp
+++ b/mythtv/libs/libmythbase/mythmiscutil.cpp
@@ -943,6 +943,10 @@ void wrapList(QStringList &list, int width)
 {
     int i;
 
+    // if this is triggered, something has gone seriously wrong
+    // the result won't really be usable, but at least it won't crash
+    width = max(width, 5);
+
     for(i = 0; i < list.size(); i++)
     {
         QString string = list.at(i);