diff --git a/lib/asciidoctor/table.rb b/lib/asciidoctor/table.rb
index 587fc2791c..f8f9510a02 100644
--- a/lib/asciidoctor/table.rb
+++ b/lib/asciidoctor/table.rb
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ def close_cell(eol = false)
         end
       else
         # QUESTION is this right for cells that span columns?
-        column = @table.columns[@current_row.size]
+        return unless (column = @table.columns[@current_row.size])
       end
 
       cell = Table::Cell.new(column, cell_text, cell_spec, @last_cursor)
diff --git a/test/tables_test.rb b/test/tables_test.rb
index 57fd0504aa..936ecac97c 100644
--- a/test/tables_test.rb
+++ b/test/tables_test.rb
@@ -579,6 +579,22 @@
       assert_xpath '/table/tbody/tr[3]/td[3]/p[text()="c"]', output, 1
     end
 
+    test 'ignores cell with colspan that exceeds colspec' do
+      input = <<-EOS
+[cols="1,1"]
+|===
+3+|A
+|B
+a|C
+
+more C
+|===
+      EOS
+      output = render_embedded_string input
+      assert_css 'table', output, 1
+      assert_css 'table *', output, 0
+    end
+
     test 'paragraph, verse and literal content' do
       input = <<-EOS
 [cols=",^v,^l",options="header"]