diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtils.java
index ee6b9eea7ef..5080e610042 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtils.java
@@ -370,11 +370,8 @@ public static String abbreviate(final String str, String abbrevMarker, int offse
         if (strLen <= maxWidth) {
             return str;
         }
-        if (offset > strLen) {
-            offset = strLen;
-        }
-        if (strLen - offset < maxWidth - abbrevMarkerLength) {
-            offset = strLen - (maxWidth - abbrevMarkerLength);
+        if (strLen - offset <= maxWidth - abbrevMarkerLength) {
+            return abbrevMarker + str.substring(strLen - (maxWidth - abbrevMarkerLength));
         }
         if (offset <= abbrevMarkerLength + 1) {
             return str.substring(0, maxWidth - abbrevMarkerLength) + abbrevMarker;
@@ -382,10 +379,7 @@ public static String abbreviate(final String str, String abbrevMarker, int offse
         if (maxWidth < minAbbrevWidthOffset) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format("Minimum abbreviation width with offset is %d", minAbbrevWidthOffset));
         }
-        if (offset + maxWidth - abbrevMarkerLength < strLen) {
-            return abbrevMarker + abbreviate(str.substring(offset), abbrevMarker, maxWidth - abbrevMarkerLength);
-        }
-        return abbrevMarker + str.substring(strLen - (maxWidth - abbrevMarkerLength));
+        return abbrevMarker + abbreviate(str.substring(offset), abbrevMarker, maxWidth - abbrevMarkerLength);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtilsAbbreviateTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtilsAbbreviateTest.java
index 8ef0cfc855c..cf947ee111c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtilsAbbreviateTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtilsAbbreviateTest.java
@@ -101,6 +101,8 @@ void testAbbreviate_StringIntInt() {
         assertAbbreviateWithOffset("...ijklmno", 15, 10);
         assertAbbreviateWithOffset("...ijklmno", 16, 10);
         assertAbbreviateWithOffset("...ijklmno", Integer.MAX_VALUE, 10);
+        // abbreviating a shorter string allows maxWidth < 7
+        assertEquals("...efg", StringUtils.abbreviate("abcdefg", 5, 6));
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -163,6 +165,9 @@ void testAbbreviate_StringStringIntInt() {
         assertAbbreviateWithAbbrevMarkerAndOffset("999ijklmno", "999", 15, 10);
         assertAbbreviateWithAbbrevMarkerAndOffset("_ghijklmno", "_", 16, 10);
         assertAbbreviateWithAbbrevMarkerAndOffset("+ghijklmno", "+", Integer.MAX_VALUE, 10);
+        // abbreviating a shorter string allows maxWidth < abbrevMarker.length * 2 + 1
+        assertEquals("..de", StringUtils.abbreviate("abcde", "..", 4, 4));
+        assertEquals("....fg", StringUtils.abbreviate("abcdefg", "....", 5, 6));
     }
 
     // Fixed LANG-1463