diff --git a/utils/HtmlOutputDev.cc b/utils/HtmlOutputDev.cc
index 4247f51..b38af4d 100644
--- a/utils/HtmlOutputDev.cc
+++ b/utils/HtmlOutputDev.cc
@@ -94,10 +94,12 @@ extern GBool noframes;
 extern GBool stout;
 extern GBool xml;
 extern GBool showHidden;
 extern GBool noMerge;
 
+extern double wordBreakThreshold;
+
 static GBool debug = gFalse;
 static GooString *gstr_buff0 = NULL; // a workspace in which I format strings
 
 static GooString* basename(GooString* str){
   
@@ -349,11 +351,10 @@ void HtmlPage::conv(){
      }
   }
 
 }
 
-
 void HtmlPage::addChar(GfxState *state, double x, double y,
 		       double dx, double dy, 
 			double ox, double oy, Unicode *u, int uLen) {
   double x1, y1, w1, h1, dx2, dy2;
   int n, i;
@@ -377,11 +378,11 @@ void HtmlPage::addChar(GfxState *state, double x, double y,
   if (n > 0 && // don't start a new string, unless there is already a string
       // TODO: the following line assumes that text is flowing left to
       // right, which will not necessarily be the case, e.g. if rotated;
       // It assesses whether or not two characters are close enough to
       // be part of the same string
-      fabs(x1 - curStr->xRight[n-1]) > 0.1 * (curStr->yMax - curStr->yMin) &&
+      fabs(x1 - curStr->xRight[n-1]) > wordBreakThreshold * (curStr->yMax - curStr->yMin) &&
       // rotation is (cos q, sin q, -sin q, cos q, 0, 0)
       // sin q is zero iff there is no rotation, or 180 deg. rotation;
       // for 180 rotation, cos q will be negative
       !rot_matrices_equal(curStr->getFont().getRotMat(), state->getTextMat()))
   {
@@ -623,11 +624,11 @@ void HtmlPage::coalesce() {
 	str1->dir == str2->dir // text direction the same
        ) 
     {
 //      printf("yes\n");
       n = str1->len + str2->len;
-      if ((addSpace = horSpace > 0.1 * space)) {
+      if ((addSpace = horSpace > wordBreakThreshold * space)) {
         ++n;
       }
       if (addLineBreak) {
         ++n;
       }
diff --git a/utils/pdftohtml.1 b/utils/pdftohtml.1
index 6763bbe..44137e4 100644
--- a/utils/pdftohtml.1
+++ b/utils/pdftohtml.1
@@ -82,10 +82,15 @@ If complex is selected, but neither \-fmt or \-dev are specified,
 .B \-nomerge
 do not merge paragraphs
 .TP
 .B \-nodrm
 override document DRM settings
+.TP
+.B \-wbt <fp>
+adjust the word break threshold percent. Default is 10.
+Word break occurs when distance between two adjacent characters is
+greater than this percent of character height.
 
 .SH AUTHOR
 
 Pdftohtml was developed by Gueorgui Ovtcharov and Rainer Dorsch. It is
 based and benefits a lot from Derek Noonburg's xpdf package.
diff --git a/utils/pdftohtml.cc b/utils/pdftohtml.cc
index 7347161..4b07989 100644
--- a/utils/pdftohtml.cc
+++ b/utils/pdftohtml.cc
@@ -80,10 +80,11 @@ static double scale=1.5;
 GBool noframes=gFalse;
 GBool stout=gFalse;
 GBool xml=gFalse;
 static GBool errQuiet=gFalse;
 static GBool noDrm=gFalse;
+double wordBreakThreshold=10;  // 10%, below converted into a coefficient - 0.1
 
 GBool showHidden = gFalse;
 GBool noMerge = gFalse;
 static char ownerPassword[33] = "";
 static char userPassword[33] = "";
@@ -140,10 +141,12 @@ static const ArgDesc argDesc[] = {
    "owner password (for encrypted files)"},
   {"-upw",    argString,   userPassword,   sizeof(userPassword),
    "user password (for encrypted files)"},
   {"-nodrm", argFlag, &noDrm, 0,
    "override document DRM settings"},
+  {"-wbt",    argFP,    &wordBreakThreshold, 0,
+   "word break threshold (default 10 percent)"},
   {NULL}
 };
 
 #ifdef HAVE_SPLASH
 class SplashOutputDevNoText : public SplashOutputDev {
@@ -219,10 +222,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     if( !globalParams->getTextEncoding() )  {
 	goto error;    
     }
   }
 
+  // convert from user-friendly percents into a coefficient
+  wordBreakThreshold /= 100.0;
+
   // open PDF file
   if (ownerPassword[0]) {
     ownerPW = new GooString(ownerPassword);
   } else {
     ownerPW = NULL;