diff -r 0e70bf1f32a3 Lib/argparse.py
--- a/Lib/argparse.py	Wed Sep 11 01:15:40 2013 -0500
+++ b/Lib/argparse.py	Wed Sep 11 21:35:55 2013 +0300
@@ -610,10 +610,14 @@
             self._dedent()
 
     def _split_lines(self, text, width):
+        if width < 30:
+            return [text]
         text = self._whitespace_matcher.sub(' ', text).strip()
         return _textwrap.wrap(text, width)
 
     def _fill_text(self, text, width, indent):
+        if width < 30:
+            return text
         text = self._whitespace_matcher.sub(' ', text).strip()
         return _textwrap.fill(text, width, initial_indent=indent,
                                            subsequent_indent=indent)
diff -r 0e70bf1f32a3 Lib/test/test_argparse.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_argparse.py	Wed Sep 11 01:15:40 2013 -0500
+++ b/Lib/test/test_argparse.py	Wed Sep 11 21:35:55 2013 +0300
@@ -2924,6 +2924,8 @@
                 return parser
 
             def _test(self, tester, parser_text):
+                if 'dry_run' in bodydict:
+                    return
                 expected_text = getattr(tester, self.func_suffix)
                 expected_text = textwrap.dedent(expected_text)
                 if expected_text != parser_text:
@@ -3005,7 +3007,25 @@
         0.1
         '''
 
-
+class TestShortColumns(HelpTestCase):
+    '''Test extremely small number of columns.
+    
+    TestCase prevents "COLUMNS" from being too small in the tests themselves,
+    but we don't want any exceptions thrown in such case. Only ugly representation.
+    '''
+    dry_run = True
+    def setUp(self):
+        env = support.EnvironmentVarGuard()
+        env.set("COLUMNS", '1')
+        self.addCleanup(env.__exit__)
+    
+    parser_signature            = TestHelpBiggerOptionals.parser_signature
+    argument_signatures         = TestHelpBiggerOptionals.argument_signatures
+    argument_group_signatures   = TestHelpBiggerOptionals.argument_group_signatures
+    usage                       = TestHelpBiggerOptionals.usage
+    help                        = TestHelpBiggerOptionals.help
+    version                     = TestHelpBiggerOptionals.version
+    
 class TestHelpBiggerOptionalGroups(HelpTestCase):
     """Make sure that argument help aligns when options are longer"""