diff --git a/kitty/history.c b/kitty/history.c
index d19e7c66e..b02755bf7 100644
--- a/kitty/history.c
+++ b/kitty/history.c
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ pagerhist_push(HistoryBuf *self) {
     PagerHistoryBuf *ph = self->pagerhist;
     if (!ph) return;
     bool truncated;
+    GPUCell *prev_cell = NULL;
     Line l = {.xnum=self->xnum};
     init_line(self, self->start_of_data, &l);
 #define EXPAND_IF_FULL(sz) { \
@@ -193,7 +194,7 @@ pagerhist_push(HistoryBuf *self) {
         ph->buffer[ph->end++] = '\n';
     }
     while(sz < ph->maxsz - 2) {
-        size_t num = line_as_ansi(&l, ph->buffer + ph->end, ph->bufsize - ph->end - 2, &truncated);
+        size_t num = line_as_ansi(&l, ph->buffer + ph->end, ph->bufsize - ph->end - 2, &truncated, &prev_cell);
         if (!truncated) {
             ph->end += num;
             ph->buffer[ph->end++] = '\r';
@@ -270,12 +271,13 @@ as_ansi(HistoryBuf *self, PyObject *callback) {
     static Py_UCS4 t[5120];
     Line l = {.xnum=self->xnum};
     bool truncated;
+    GPUCell *prev_cell = NULL;
     for(unsigned int i = 0; i < self->count; i++) {
         init_line(self, i, &l);
         if (i < self->count - 1) {
             l.continued = *attrptr(self, index_of(self, i + 1)) & CONTINUED_MASK;
         } else l.continued = false;
-        index_type num = line_as_ansi(&l, t, 5120, &truncated);
+        index_type num = line_as_ansi(&l, t, 5120, &truncated, &prev_cell);
         if (!(l.continued) && num < 5119) t[num++] = 10; // 10 = \n
         PyObject *ans = PyUnicode_FromKindAndData(PyUnicode_4BYTE_KIND, t, num);
         if (ans == NULL) return PyErr_NoMemory();
diff --git a/kitty/line-buf.c b/kitty/line-buf.c
index 0add07d87..05492d8c5 100644
--- a/kitty/line-buf.c
+++ b/kitty/line-buf.c
@@ -398,16 +398,17 @@ as_ansi(LineBuf *self, PyObject *callback) {
     // remove trailing empty lines
     index_type ylimit = self->ynum - 1;
     bool truncated;
+    GPUCell *prev_cell = NULL;
     do {
         init_line(self, (&l), self->line_map[ylimit]);
-        if (line_as_ansi(&l, t, 5120, &truncated) != 0) break;
+        if (line_as_ansi(&l, t, 5120, &truncated, &prev_cell) != 0) break;
         ylimit--;
     } while(ylimit > 0);
 
     for(index_type i = 0; i <= ylimit; i++) {
         l.continued = ((i < self->ynum - 1) ? self->line_attrs[i+1] : self->line_attrs[i]) & CONTINUED_MASK;
         init_line(self, (&l), self->line_map[i]);
-        index_type num = line_as_ansi(&l, t, 5120, &truncated);
+        index_type num = line_as_ansi(&l, t, 5120, &truncated, &prev_cell);
         if (!(l.continued) && num < 5119) t[num++] = 10; // 10 = \n
         PyObject *ans = PyUnicode_FromKindAndData(PyUnicode_4BYTE_KIND, t, num);
         if (ans == NULL) return PyErr_NoMemory();
diff --git a/kitty/line.c b/kitty/line.c
index 5a2563db6..cb2e446e4 100644
--- a/kitty/line.c
+++ b/kitty/line.c
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ write_sgr(const char *val, Py_UCS4 *buf, index_type buflen, index_type *i) {
 }
 
 index_type
-line_as_ansi(Line *self, Py_UCS4 *buf, index_type buflen, bool *truncated) {
+line_as_ansi(Line *self, Py_UCS4 *buf, index_type buflen, bool *truncated, GPUCell** prev_cell) {
 #define WRITE_SGR(val) { if (!write_sgr(val, buf, buflen, &i)) { *truncated = true; return i; } }
 #define WRITE_CH(val) if (i > buflen - 1) { *truncated = true; return i; } buf[i++] = val;
 
@@ -268,7 +268,10 @@ line_as_ansi(Line *self, Py_UCS4 *buf, index_type buflen, bool *truncated) {
     char_type previous_width = 0;
 
     GPUCell blank_cell = { 0 };
-    GPUCell *cell, *prev_cell = &blank_cell;
+    GPUCell *cell;
+    if (prev_cell == NULL || *prev_cell == NULL) {
+        *prev_cell = &blank_cell;
+    }
 
     for (index_type pos=0; pos < limit; pos++) {
         char_type ch = self->cpu_cells[pos].ch;
@@ -279,13 +282,13 @@ line_as_ansi(Line *self, Py_UCS4 *buf, index_type buflen, bool *truncated) {
 
         cell = &self->gpu_cells[pos];
 
-#define CMP_ATTRS (cell->attrs & ATTRS_MASK_WITHOUT_WIDTH) != (prev_cell->attrs & ATTRS_MASK_WITHOUT_WIDTH)
-#define CMP(x) cell->x != prev_cell->x
+#define CMP_ATTRS (cell->attrs & ATTRS_MASK_WITHOUT_WIDTH) != ((*prev_cell)->attrs & ATTRS_MASK_WITHOUT_WIDTH)
+#define CMP(x) cell->x != (*prev_cell)->x
         if (CMP_ATTRS || CMP(fg) || CMP(bg) || CMP(decoration_fg)) {
-            const char *sgr = cell_as_sgr(cell, prev_cell);
+            const char *sgr = cell_as_sgr(cell, *prev_cell);
             if (*sgr) WRITE_SGR(sgr);
         }
-        prev_cell = cell;
+        *prev_cell = cell;
         WRITE_CH(ch);
         for(unsigned c = 0; c < arraysz(self->cpu_cells[pos].cc_idx) && self->cpu_cells[pos].cc_idx[c]; c++) {
             WRITE_CH(codepoint_for_mark(self->cpu_cells[pos].cc_idx[c]));
@@ -304,7 +307,7 @@ as_ansi(Line* self, PyObject *a UNUSED) {
 #define as_ansi_doc "Return the line's contents with ANSI (SGR) escape codes for formatting"
     static Py_UCS4 t[5120] = {0};
     bool truncated;
-    index_type num = line_as_ansi(self, t, 5120, &truncated);
+    index_type num = line_as_ansi(self, t, 5120, &truncated, NULL);
     PyObject *ans = PyUnicode_FromKindAndData(PyUnicode_4BYTE_KIND, t, num);
     return ans;
 }
diff --git a/kitty/lineops.h b/kitty/lineops.h
index 14f070506..8cb6ed4fb 100644
--- a/kitty/lineops.h
+++ b/kitty/lineops.h
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ void line_right_shift(Line *, unsigned int , unsigned int );
 void line_add_combining_char(Line *, uint32_t , unsigned int );
 index_type line_url_start_at(Line *self, index_type x);
 index_type line_url_end_at(Line *self, index_type x, bool, char_type);
-index_type line_as_ansi(Line *self, Py_UCS4 *buf, index_type buflen, bool*);
+index_type line_as_ansi(Line *self, Py_UCS4 *buf, index_type buflen, bool*, GPUCell**);
 unsigned int line_length(Line *self);
 size_t cell_as_unicode(CPUCell *cell, bool include_cc, Py_UCS4 *buf, char_type);
 size_t cell_as_unicode_for_fallback(CPUCell *cell, Py_UCS4 *buf);
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ void historybuf_clear(HistoryBuf *self);
     Py_UCS4 *buf = NULL; \
     PyObject *nl = PyUnicode_FromString("\n"); \
     PyObject *cr = PyUnicode_FromString("\r"); \
+    GPUCell *prev_cell = NULL; \
     if (nl == NULL || cr == NULL) goto end; \
     if (as_ansi) { \
         buf = malloc(sizeof(Py_UCS4) * columns * 100); \
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ void historybuf_clear(HistoryBuf *self);
         } \
         if (as_ansi) { \
             bool truncated; \
-            index_type num = line_as_ansi(line, buf, columns * 100 - 2, &truncated); \
+            index_type num = line_as_ansi(line, buf, columns * 100 - 2, &truncated, &prev_cell); \
             t = PyUnicode_FromKindAndData(PyUnicode_4BYTE_KIND, buf, num); \
         } else { \
             t = line_as_unicode(line); \