diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFSheet.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFSheet.java
index 59a31213e..def2e75a1 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFSheet.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFSheet.java
@@ -1505,6 +1505,9 @@ public class HSSFSheet
             }
 
             if (width != -1) {
+                if (width > Short.MAX_VALUE) { //width can be bigger that Short.MAX_VALUE!
+                     width = Short.MAX_VALUE;
+                }
                 sheet.setColumnWidth(column, (short) (width * 256));
             }
         }