diff --git a/primitives.go b/primitives.go
index 81b613c..58ec4f9 100644
--- a/primitives.go
+++ b/primitives.go
@@ -1859,7 +1859,9 @@ func (e *Engine) loadMore() {
 	e.prim("bibliography", func(e *Engine) { e.doBibliography() })           // read .bib, emit thebibliography
 	e.prim("gotex@putbib", func(e *Engine) { e.doPutbib() })                 // bibunits: \input the current unit's bu<N>.bbl
 	e.prim("tabular", func(e *Engine) { e.doTabular() })
-	e.prim("endtabular", func(e *Engine) {}) // consumed by doTabular; defined for safety
+	e.prim("tabular*", func(e *Engine) { e.doTabularStar() })
+	e.prim("endtabular*", func(e *Engine) {}) // consumed by doTabularStar
+	e.prim("endtabular", func(e *Engine) {})  // consumed by doTabular; defined for safety
 	e.prim("tabularx", func(e *Engine) { e.doTabularx() })
 	e.prim("endtabularx", func(e *Engine) {}) // consumed by doTabularx; defined for safety
 	e.prim("minipage", func(e *Engine) { e.doMinipage() })
diff --git a/tabular.go b/tabular.go
index c2d118c..fdc094b 100644
--- a/tabular.go
+++ b/tabular.go
@@ -106,6 +106,32 @@ func (e *Engine) doTabular() {
 	e.place(e.buildTabularBox(aligns, pwidths, vrules, items))
 }
 
+// doTabularStar typesets a tabular* environment: \begin{tabular*}{W}[pos]{spec}.
+// LaTeX reads the width and then IS tabular, with the alignment packed to it
+// (latex.ltx:12092):
+//
+//	\@namedef{tabular*}#1{\setlength\dimen@{#1}\edef\@halignto{to\the\dimen@}\@tabular}
+//
+// so the width is a target for the inter-column glue, and the body, the rules,
+// \\ and & behave exactly as in tabular. Here the assembled box is packed to that
+// width, which is what \extracolsep{\fill} in the preamble is asking for; when the
+// natural table is wider, packing to a smaller width would overlap columns, so the
+// natural box is kept (an overfull \hbox in TeX's terms).
+//
+// Undefined, its 10 uses in one IEEEtran paper each set their body as running text
+// and the paper came out 43 pages against a reference of 27.
+func (e *Engine) doTabularStar() {
+	width := e.readBraceDimen()
+	e.scanOptBracketToks() // optional [t]/[b]/[c], after the width for tabular*
+	aligns, pwidths, vrules := e.scanColSpec()
+	items := e.collectTabularBody("tabular*")
+	box := e.buildTabularBox(aligns, pwidths, vrules, items)
+	if width > box.width {
+		box = hpackSP([]node{box, glueNode{spec: glueSpec{stretch: unity, stretchOrder: 1}}}, packTo, width)
+	}
+	e.place(box)
+}
+
 // doTabularx typesets a tabularx environment: \begin{tabularx}{W}{spec}. Unlike
 // tabular it takes a leading {width} argument (a rigid <dimen>, e.g. \hsize or
 // \linewidth); every X column in {spec} is a paragraph column whose width is
diff --git a/tabular_test.go b/tabular_test.go
index c0991ef..28f56dc 100644
--- a/tabular_test.go
+++ b/tabular_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package engine
 
-import "testing"
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
 
 func lastVbox(e *Engine) *boxNode {
 	for i := len(e.mvl) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
@@ -283,3 +286,38 @@ func TestTabularxOptionalPlacement(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// tabular* takes a {width} before its column spec (latex.ltx:12092) and is then
+// tabular. Undefined, the width and the spec were typeset as running text and the
+// body set as a paragraph: one IEEEtran paper used it ten times.
+func TestTabularStarTakesItsWidthAndSetsATable(t *testing.T) {
+	e := New()
+	if err := e.LoadLaTeX(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	e.SetFont(spMock{})
+	src := `\begin{tabular*}{200pt}{@{\extracolsep{\fill}}lr}` +
+		`un & deux \\ trois & quatre \\` +
+		`\end{tabular*}\par`
+	if _, err := e.Run(src); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	txt := mvlText(e.mvl)
+	for _, leak := range []string{"200pt", "extracolsep", "lr"} {
+		if strings.Contains(txt, leak) {
+			t.Errorf("%q leaked into the text: %q", leak, txt)
+		}
+	}
+	var box *boxNode // packed to the requested width, so an hbox around the table vbox
+	for _, n := range e.mvl {
+		if b, ok := n.(*boxNode); ok {
+			box = b
+		}
+	}
+	if box == nil {
+		t.Fatal("no table box was placed")
+	}
+	if box.width < ptToSP(200) {
+		t.Errorf("table width %d, want at least the requested 200pt (%d)", box.width, ptToSP(200))
+	}
+}