diff --git a/window-copy.c b/window-copy.c
index f30d241e..7b7ab72c 100644
--- a/window-copy.c
+++ b/window-copy.c
@@ -4535,14 +4535,14 @@ window_copy_cursor_previous_word_pos(struct window_mode_entry *wme,
 				    separators))
 					break;
 			} else {
-				if (data->cy == 0 &&
+				if (py == 0 ||
+				    (data->cy == 0 &&
 				    (screen_hsize(data->backing) == 0 ||
 				    data->oy >=
-				    screen_hsize(data->backing) - 1))
+				    screen_hsize(data->backing) - 1)))
 					goto out;
 
-				py = screen_hsize(data->backing) + data->cy -
-				    data->oy;
+				py--;
 				px = window_copy_find_length(wme, py);
 
 				/* Stop if separator at EOL. */