diff --git a/src/fe-common/core/fe-channels.c b/src/fe-common/core/fe-channels.c
index 83638ddf..fe41ea30 100644
--- a/src/fe-common/core/fe-channels.c
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/fe-channels.c
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ static void display_sorted_nicks(CHANNEL_REC *channel, GSList *nicklist)
 	g_free(format);
 
 	if (settings_get_int("names_max_width") > 0 &&
-	    max_width > settings_get_int("names_max_width"))
+	    settings_get_int("names_max_width") < max_width)
 		max_width = settings_get_int("names_max_width");
 
         /* remove width of the timestamp from max_width */
@@ -373,6 +373,12 @@ static void display_sorted_nicks(CHANNEL_REC *channel, GSList *nicklist)
 		g_free(stripped);
 	}
 
+	if (max_width <= 0) {
+		/* we should always have at least some space .. if we
+		   really don't, it won't show properly anyway. */
+		max_width = 10;
+	}
+
 	/* calculate columns */
 	cols = get_max_column_count(nicklist, get_nick_length, max_width,
 				    settings_get_int("names_max_columns"),