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 c2f379fa8..f494c6712 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/XSSFSheet.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/XSSFSheet.java
@@ -2689,14 +2689,15 @@ public class XSSFSheet extends POIXMLDocumentPart implements Sheet {
     }
 
     protected void write(OutputStream out) throws IOException {
-
         if(worksheet.sizeOfColsArray() == 1) {
-            CTCols col = worksheet.getColsArray(0);
-            if(col.sizeOfColArray() != 0) {
+        	CTCols col = worksheet.getColsArray(0);
+            if(col.sizeOfColArray() == 0) {
+            	// this is necessary so that we do not write an empty <cols/> item into the sheet-xml in the xlsx-file
+            	// Excel complains about a corrupted file if this shows up there!
+                worksheet.setColsArray(null);
+            } else {
             	setColWidthAttribute(col);
-            } /*else {
-            	remove, see Bug 52233: worksheet.setColsArray(null);
-            }*/
+            }
         }
 
         // Now re-generate our CTHyperlinks, if needed
diff --git a/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/TestXSSFWorkbook.java b/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/TestXSSFWorkbook.java
index 5bb875691..8f583efbc 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/TestXSSFWorkbook.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/testcases/org/apache/poi/xssf/usermodel/TestXSSFWorkbook.java
@@ -462,7 +462,8 @@ public final class TestXSSFWorkbook extends BaseTestWorkbook {
                 sh.getCTWorksheet().getSheetPr().getTabColor().getIndexed());
     }
 
-	public void testColumnWidthPOI52233() throws Exception {
+    // TODO: disabled as the fix for this had severe side-effects
+	public void doNotRuntestColumnWidthPOI52233() throws Exception {
 		XSSFWorkbook workbook = new XSSFWorkbook();
 		XSSFSheet sheet = workbook.createSheet();
 		XSSFRow row = sheet.createRow(0);