diff --git a/src/layout-manager.js b/src/layout-manager.js
index 2dc4960..3937452 100644
--- a/src/layout-manager.js
+++ b/src/layout-manager.js
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ function makeComputeWidths(colSpan, desiredWidth, x, forcedMin) {
   return function (vals, table) {
     let result = [];
     let spanners = [];
+    let auto = {};
     table.forEach(function (row) {
       row.forEach(function (cell) {
         if ((cell[colSpan] || 1) > 1) {
@@ -217,12 +218,20 @@ function makeComputeWidths(colSpan, desiredWidth, x, forcedMin) {
       let col = cell[x];
       let existingWidth = result[col];
       let editableCols = typeof vals[col] === 'number' ? 0 : 1;
-      for (let i = 1; i < span; i++) {
-        existingWidth += 1 + result[col + i];
-        if (typeof vals[col + i] !== 'number') {
-          editableCols++;
+      if (typeof existingWidth === 'number') {
+        for (let i = 1; i < span; i++) {
+          existingWidth += 1 + result[col + i];
+          if (typeof vals[col + i] !== 'number') {
+            editableCols++;
+          }
+        }
+      } else {
+        existingWidth = desiredWidth === 'desiredWidth' ? cell.desiredWidth - 1 : 1;
+        if (!auto[col] || auto[col] < existingWidth) {
+          auto[col] = existingWidth;
         }
       }
+
       if (cell[desiredWidth] > existingWidth) {
         let i = 0;
         while (editableCols > 0 && cell[desiredWidth] > existingWidth) {
@@ -237,7 +246,7 @@ function makeComputeWidths(colSpan, desiredWidth, x, forcedMin) {
       }
     }
 
-    Object.assign(vals, result);
+    Object.assign(vals, result, auto);
     for (let j = 0; j < vals.length; j++) {
       vals[j] = Math.max(forcedMin, vals[j] || 0);
     }
diff --git a/test/issues/289-test.js b/test/issues/289-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2734684
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/issues/289-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+const Table = require('../..');
+
+describe('erroneous colSpan does not get truncated', () => {
+  test('before row with column width', () => {
+    const table = new Table({ style: { border: [], head: [] } });
+    table.push([{ colSpan: 2, content: 'I should not be truncated' }]);
+    let expected = [
+      '┌────────────────────────────┐',
+      '│ I should not be truncated  │',
+      '└────────────────────────────┘',
+    ];
+    expect(table.toString()).toEqual(expected.join('\n'));
+  });
+  test('after row with column width', () => {
+    const table = new Table({ style: { head: [], border: [] } });
+    table.push(
+      [{ content: '0-0 (1x3)', colSpan: 3, rowSpan: 1 }],
+      [
+        { content: '1-0 (2x2)', colSpan: 2, rowSpan: 2 },
+        { content: '1-2 (2x1)', colSpan: 1, rowSpan: 2 },
+      ],
+      []
+    );
+    let expected = [
+      '┌────────────────────────┐',
+      '│ 0-0 (1x3)              │',
+      '├────────────┬───────────┤',
+      '│ 1-0 (2x2)  │ 1-2 (2x1) │',
+      '│            │           │',
+      '│            │           │',
+      '└────────────┴───────────┘',
+    ];
+    expect(table.toString()).toEqual(expected.join('\n'));
+  });
+});