diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 5172a71..1fcee2c 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ function configure (options) {
     if (arguments.length > 1) {
       let spacer = ''
       if (typeof space === 'number') {
-        spacer = ' '.repeat(Math.min(space, 10))
+        spacer = ' '.repeat(Math.max(0, Math.min(space, 10)))
       } else if (typeof space === 'string') {
         spacer = space.slice(0, 10)
       }
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index 322b832..6a63d0b 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -773,6 +773,15 @@ test('maximum spacer length', function (assert) {
   assert.end()
 })
 
+test('negative spacer length', function (assert) {
+  const input = { a: 0 }
+  // A negative number means no indentation, same as JSON.stringify (not a throw).
+  assert.equal(stringify(input, null, -1), JSON.stringify(input, null, -1))
+  assert.equal(stringify(input, null, -1e5), JSON.stringify(input, null, -1e5))
+  assert.equal(stringify(input, null, -Infinity), JSON.stringify(input, null, -Infinity))
+  assert.end()
+})
+
 test('indent properly; regression test for issue #16', function (assert) {
   const o = {
     collections: {},