diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/Sheet.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/Sheet.java
index 5e528f659..80adc8457 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/Sheet.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/Sheet.java
@@ -1091,6 +1091,8 @@ public final class Sheet implements Model {
      *            (in units of 1/256th of a character width)
      */
     public void setColumnWidth(int column, int width) {
+        if(width > 255*256) throw new IllegalArgumentException("The maximum column width for an individual cell is 255 characters.");
+        
         setColumn(column, null, new Integer(width), null, null, null);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFSheet.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFSheet.java
index af51ce654..5e7609db0 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFSheet.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFSheet.java
@@ -429,9 +429,16 @@ public final class HSSFSheet implements org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Sheet {
     }
 
     /**
-     * set the width (in units of 1/256th of a character width)
+     * Set the width (in units of 1/256th of a character width)
+     * <p>
+     * The maximum column width for an individual cell is 255 characters.
+     * This value represents the number of characters that can be displayed
+     * in a cell that is formatted with the standard font.
+     * </p>
+     *
      * @param columnIndex - the column to set (0-based)
      * @param width - the width in units of 1/256th of a character width
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if width > 65536 (the maximum column width in Excel)
      */
     public void setColumnWidth(int columnIndex, int width) {
         sheet.setColumnWidth(columnIndex, width);
diff --git a/src/ooxml/interfaces-jdk15/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/Sheet.java b/src/ooxml/interfaces-jdk15/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/Sheet.java
index a6a1662c5..ad3e50b09 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/interfaces-jdk15/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/Sheet.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/interfaces-jdk15/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/Sheet.java
@@ -118,6 +118,11 @@ public interface Sheet extends Iterable<Row> {
 
     /**
      * Set the width (in units of 1/256th of a character width)
+     * <p>
+     * The maximum column width for an individual cell is 255 characters.
+     * This value represents the number of characters that can be displayed
+     * in a cell that is formatted with the standard font.
+     * </p>
      *
      * @param columnIndex - the column to set (0-based)
      * @param width - the width in units of 1/256th of a character width
diff --git a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/XSSFSheet.java b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/XSSFSheet.java
index aa35007ff..b1ed00935 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/XSSFSheet.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/XSSFSheet.java
@@ -1266,11 +1266,19 @@ public class XSSFSheet extends POIXMLDocumentPart implements Sheet {
 
     /**
      * Set the width (in units of 1/256th of a character width)
+     * <p>
+     * The maximum column width for an individual cell is 255 characters.
+     * This value represents the number of characters that can be displayed
+     * in a cell that is formatted with the standard font.
+     * </p>
      *
      * @param columnIndex - the column to set (0-based)
      * @param width - the width in units of 1/256th of a character width
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if width > 65536 (the maximum column width in Excel)
      */
     public void setColumnWidth(int columnIndex, int width) {
+        if(width > 255*256) throw new IllegalArgumentException("The maximum column width for an individual cell is 255 characters.");
+
         columnHelper.setColWidth(columnIndex, (double)width/256);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/TestXSSFSheet.java b/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/TestXSSFSheet.java
index dd0446c9d..61a0b5e94 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/TestXSSFSheet.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/TestXSSFSheet.java
@@ -184,6 +184,18 @@ public class TestXSSFSheet extends TestCase {
         assertEquals(1, sheet.getRowBreaks().length);
     }
 
+    public void testMaxColumnWidth() {
+        XSSFWorkbook workbook = new XSSFWorkbook();
+        Sheet sheet = workbook.createSheet("Sheet 1");
+        sheet.setColumnWidth(0, 255*256); //the limit
+        try {
+            sheet.setColumnWidth(0, 256*256); //the limit
+            fail("expected exception");
+        } catch (Exception e){
+            ;
+        }
+    }
+
     public void testGetSetColumnBreaks() {
         XSSFWorkbook workbook = new XSSFWorkbook();
         Sheet sheet = workbook.createSheet("Sheet 1");
diff --git a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/TestSheetAdditional.java b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/TestSheetAdditional.java
index 477908dc7..9afae28b1 100644
--- a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/TestSheetAdditional.java
+++ b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/TestSheetAdditional.java
@@ -54,4 +54,15 @@ public final class TestSheetAdditional extends TestCase {
 		assertEquals((short)100,sheet.getColumnWidth((short)9));
 		assertEquals((short)100,sheet.getColumnWidth((short)10));
 	}
+
+    public void testMaxColumnWidth() {
+        Sheet sheet = Sheet.createSheet();
+        sheet.setColumnWidth(0, 255*256); //the limit
+        try {
+            sheet.setColumnWidth(0, 256*256); //the limit
+            fail("expected exception");
+        } catch (Exception e){
+            ;
+        }
+    }
 }