diff --git a/src/lager_format.erl b/src/lager_format.erl
index f1cf470..b3fa86e 100644
--- a/src/lager_format.erl
+++ b/src/lager_format.erl
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ build([], Acc, MaxLen, _O) ->
 
 build2([{C,As,F,Ad,P,Pad,Enc}|Cs], Count, MaxLen) ->
     {S, Len} = control2(C, As, F, Ad, P, Pad, Enc, MaxLen div Count),
-    [S|build2(Cs, Count - 1, MaxLen - Len)];
+    [S|build2(Cs, Count - 1, MaxLen - abs(Len))];
 build2([C|Cs], Count, MaxLen) ->
     [C|build2(Cs, Count, MaxLen)];
 build2([], _, _) -> [].