diff --git a/lib/output.js b/lib/output.js
index 68906328..358e1931 100644
--- a/lib/output.js
+++ b/lib/output.js
@@ -103,7 +103,6 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
 
     var current_col = 0;
     var current_line = 1;
-    var current_pos = 0;
     var indentation = options.indent_start;
     var last;
     var line_end = 0;
@@ -115,17 +114,17 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
     var might_need_semicolon;
     var need_newline_indented = false;
     var need_space = false;
-    var newline_insert = -1;
+    var output;
     var stack;
-    var OUTPUT;
+    var stored = "";
 
     function reset() {
         last = "";
         might_need_space = false;
         might_need_semicolon = false;
         stack = [];
-        var str = OUTPUT;
-        OUTPUT = "";
+        var str = output;
+        output = "";
         return str;
     }
 
@@ -227,32 +226,30 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
     } : noop;
 
     function insert_newlines(count) {
-        var index = OUTPUT.lastIndexOf("\n");
-        if (line_end < index) line_end = index;
-        var left = OUTPUT.slice(0, line_end);
-        var right = OUTPUT.slice(line_end);
-        adjust_mappings(count, right.length - current_col);
+        stored += output.slice(0, line_end);
+        output = output.slice(line_end);
+        var new_col = output.length;
+        adjust_mappings(count, new_col - current_col);
         current_line += count;
-        current_pos += count;
-        current_col = right.length;
-        OUTPUT = left;
-        while (count--) OUTPUT += "\n";
-        OUTPUT += right;
+        current_col = new_col;
+        while (count--) stored += "\n";
     }
 
-    var fix_line = options.max_line_len ? function() {
+    var fix_line = options.max_line_len ? function(flush) {
         if (line_fixed) {
             if (current_col > options.max_line_len) {
                 AST_Node.warn("Output exceeds {max_line_len} characters", options);
             }
             return;
         }
-        if (current_col > options.max_line_len) insert_newlines(1);
-        line_fixed = true;
-        flush_mappings();
+        if (current_col > options.max_line_len) {
+            insert_newlines(1);
+            line_fixed = true;
+        }
+        if (line_fixed || flush) flush_mappings();
     } : noop;
 
-    var requireSemicolonChars = makePredicate("( [ + * / - , .");
+    var require_semicolon = makePredicate("( [ + * / - , .");
 
     var print = options.beautify
         || options.comments
@@ -276,32 +273,32 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
                 space();
             }
         }
-        newline_insert = -1;
         var prev = last.slice(-1);
         if (might_need_semicolon) {
             might_need_semicolon = false;
-
-            if (prev == ":" && ch == "}" || (!ch || ";}".indexOf(ch) < 0) && prev != ";") {
-                if (options.semicolons || requireSemicolonChars[ch]) {
-                    OUTPUT += ";";
+            if (prev == ":" && ch == "}" || prev != ";" && (!ch || ";}".indexOf(ch) < 0)) {
+                var need_semicolon = require_semicolon[ch];
+                if (need_semicolon || options.semicolons) {
+                    output += ";";
                     current_col++;
-                    current_pos++;
+                    if (!line_fixed) {
+                        fix_line();
+                        if (line_fixed && !need_semicolon && output == ";") {
+                            output = "";
+                            current_col = 0;
+                        }
+                    }
+                    if (line_end == output.length - 1) line_end++;
                 } else {
                     fix_line();
-                    OUTPUT += "\n";
-                    current_pos++;
+                    output += "\n";
                     current_line++;
                     current_col = 0;
-
-                    if (/^\s+$/.test(str)) {
-                        // reset the semicolon flag, since we didn't print one
-                        // now and might still have to later
-                        might_need_semicolon = true;
-                    }
+                    // reset the semicolon flag, since we didn't print one
+                    // now and might still have to later
+                    if (/^\s+$/.test(str)) might_need_semicolon = true;
                 }
-
-                if (!options.beautify)
-                    might_need_space = false;
+                if (!options.beautify) might_need_space = false;
             }
         }
 
@@ -312,9 +309,8 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
                 || str == "--" && last == "!"
                 || str == "in" && prev == "/"
                 || last == "--" && ch == ">") {
-                OUTPUT += " ";
+                output += " ";
                 current_col++;
-                current_pos++;
             }
             if (prev != "<" || str != "!") might_need_space = false;
         }
@@ -324,14 +320,13 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
                 token: mapping_token,
                 name: mapping_name,
                 line: current_line,
-                col: current_col
+                col: current_col,
             });
             mapping_token = false;
             if (line_fixed) flush_mappings();
         }
 
-        OUTPUT += str;
-        current_pos += str.length;
+        output += str;
         var a = str.split(/\r?\n/), n = a.length - 1;
         current_line += n;
         current_col += a[0].length;
@@ -346,7 +341,7 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
         if (might_need_semicolon) {
             might_need_semicolon = false;
             if (prev == ":" && ch == "}" || (!ch || ";}".indexOf(ch) < 0) && prev != ";") {
-                OUTPUT += ";";
+                output += ";";
                 might_need_space = false;
             }
         }
@@ -357,11 +352,11 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
                 || str == "--" && last == "!"
                 || str == "in" && prev == "/"
                 || last == "--" && ch == ">") {
-                OUTPUT += " ";
+                output += " ";
             }
             if (prev != "<" || str != "!") might_need_space = false;
         }
-        OUTPUT += str;
+        output += str;
         last = str;
     };
 
@@ -385,18 +380,13 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
 
     var may_add_newline = options.max_line_len || options.preserve_line ? function() {
         fix_line();
-        line_end = OUTPUT.length;
+        line_end = output.length;
         line_fixed = false;
     } : noop;
 
     var newline = options.beautify ? function() {
-        if (newline_insert < 0) return print("\n");
-        if (OUTPUT[newline_insert] != "\n") {
-            OUTPUT = OUTPUT.slice(0, newline_insert) + "\n" + OUTPUT.slice(newline_insert);
-            current_pos++;
-            current_line++;
-        }
-        newline_insert++;
+        print("\n");
+        line_end = output.length;
     } : may_add_newline;
 
     var semicolon = options.beautify ? function() {
@@ -452,13 +442,12 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
     } : noop;
 
     function get() {
-        if (!line_fixed) fix_line();
-        return OUTPUT;
+        if (!line_fixed) fix_line(true);
+        return stored + output;
     }
 
     function has_nlb() {
-        var index = OUTPUT.lastIndexOf("\n");
-        return /^ *$/.test(OUTPUT.slice(index + 1));
+        return /(^|\n) *$/.test(output);
     }
 
     function pad_comment(token, force) {
@@ -515,7 +504,7 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
             scan.walk(tw);
         }
 
-        if (current_pos == 0) {
+        if (current_line == 1 && current_col == 0) {
             if (comments.length > 0 && options.shebang && comments[0].type == "comment5") {
                 print("#!" + comments.shift().value + "\n");
                 indent();
@@ -559,19 +548,17 @@ function OutputStream(options) {
             return !/comment[134]/.test(c.type);
         }))) return;
         comments._dumped = self;
-        var insert = OUTPUT.length;
         comments.filter(comment_filter, node).forEach(function(comment, index) {
             pad_comment(comment, index || !tail);
             print_comment(comment);
         });
-        if (OUTPUT.length > insert) newline_insert = insert;
     }
 
     return {
         get             : get,
         reset           : reset,
         indent          : indent,
-        should_break    : options.width ? function() {
+        should_break    : options.beautify && options.width ? function() {
             return current_col - indentation >= options.width;
         } : return_false,
         has_parens      : function() { return last.slice(-1) == "(" },
diff --git a/test/compress/max_line_len.js b/test/compress/max_line_len.js
index 5be4e059..c72fa5ef 100644
--- a/test/compress/max_line_len.js
+++ b/test/compress/max_line_len.js
@@ -37,6 +37,51 @@ just_enough: {
     expect_warnings: []
 }
 
+drop_semicolon: {
+    beautify = {
+        max_line_len: 5,
+        semicolons: true,
+    }
+    input: {
+        var a;
+        console.log(a || 42);
+    }
+    expect_exact: [
+        "var a",
+        "console.log(",
+        "a||42",
+        ");",
+    ]
+    expect_stdout: "42"
+    expect_warnings: [
+        "WARN: Output exceeds 5 characters",
+    ]
+}
+
+template_newline: {
+    beautify = {
+        max_line_len: 2,
+    }
+    input: {
+        console.log(`foo
+bar`);
+    }
+    expect_exact: [
+        "console.log(",
+        "`foo",
+        "bar`",
+        ");",
+    ]
+    expect_stdout: [
+        "foo",
+        "bar",
+    ]
+    expect_warnings: [
+        "WARN: Output exceeds 2 characters",
+    ]
+    node_version: ">=4"
+}
+
 issue_304: {
     beautify = {
         max_line_len: 10,
diff --git a/test/compress/preserve_line.js b/test/compress/preserve_line.js
index 5b1638ca..7c859ec0 100644
--- a/test/compress/preserve_line.js
+++ b/test/compress/preserve_line.js
@@ -97,10 +97,10 @@ return_5: {
     }
     expect_exact: [
         "_is_selected=function(tags,slug){",
-        "var ref",
+        "var ref;",
         "",
         "",
-        ";return null!=(ref=_.find(tags,{slug:slug}))?ref.selected:void 0};",
+        "return null!=(ref=_.find(tags,{slug:slug}))?ref.selected:void 0};",
     ]
 }
 
@@ -146,10 +146,10 @@ return_7: {
     }
     expect_exact: [
         "_is_selected=function(e,l){",
-        "var n",
+        "var n;",
         "",
         "",
-        ";return null!=(n=_.find(e,{slug:l}))?n.selected:void 0};",
+        "return null!=(n=_.find(e,{slug:l}))?n.selected:void 0};",
     ]
 }
 
diff --git a/test/input/issue-505/output.js b/test/input/issue-505/output.js
index d81d0f92..5627c00c 100644
--- a/test/input/issue-505/output.js
+++ b/test/input/issue-505/output.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 function test(a){
-"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
-;a(err,data),a(err,
+"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa";
+a(err,data),a(err,
 data)}
-//# sourceMappingURL=data:application/json;charset=utf-8;base64,eyJ2ZXJzaW9uIjozLCJzb3VyY2VzIjpbIjAiXSwibmFtZXMiOlsidGVzdCIsImNhbGxiYWNrIiwiZXJyIiwiZGF0YSJdLCJtYXBwaW5ncyI6IkFBQUEsU0FBU0EsS0FBS0M7O0NBRVZBLEVBQVNDLElBQUtDLE1BQ2RGLEVBQVNDO0FBQUtDIn0=
\ No newline at end of file
+//# sourceMappingURL=data:application/json;charset=utf-8;base64,eyJ2ZXJzaW9uIjozLCJzb3VyY2VzIjpbIjAiXSwibmFtZXMiOlsidGVzdCIsImNhbGxiYWNrIiwiZXJyIiwiZGF0YSJdLCJtYXBwaW5ncyI6IkFBQUEsU0FBU0E7SEFBS0M7QUFFVkE7aEJBQVNDLElBQUtDLE1BQ2RGLEVBQVNDLElBQUtDIn0=
\ No newline at end of file