diff --git a/kitty/screen.c b/kitty/screen.c
index c7899921d..236c7298e 100644
--- a/kitty/screen.c
+++ b/kitty/screen.c
@@ -1469,12 +1469,19 @@ screen_fake_move_cursor_to_position(Screen *self, index_type x, index_type y) {
 
     for (unsigned y = start->y, x = start->x; y <= end->y; y++) {
         unsigned x_limit = y == end->y ? end->x : self->columns;
+        bool found_non_empty_cell = false;
         while (x < x_limit) {
             unsigned int w = linebuf_char_width_at(self->linebuf, x, y);
             if (w == 0) {
                 count += 1;
+                // we only stop counting the cells in the line at an empty cell
+                // if at least one non-empty cell is found. zsh uses empty cells
+                // between the end of the text ad the right prompt. fish uses empty
+                // cells at the start of a line when editing multiline text
+                if (!found_non_empty_cell) { x++; continue; }
                 break;
             }
+            found_non_empty_cell = true;
             x += w;
             count += 1;  // zsh requires a single arrow press to move fast dualwidth chars
         }