diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6c275639..72c60d08 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 ### Unreleased
 
+- Add `lineBreak: 'whitespace'` to `doc.text()`, which breaks a line only at whitespace, a soft hyphen or a zero-width space. The Unicode line breaking rules the wrapper follows also allow a break after a hyphen or a slash, so `design-system` or `https://github.com/foliojs/pdfkit` could be cut at a line end, and a text extractor that joins the lines, such as a résumé parser, reads two words
 - Add an `objectStreams` option, which packs the objects that are not streams into compressed object streams and writes a cross-reference stream instead of the xref table, making documents with many such objects, e.g. tagged ones, much smaller. It requires a `pdfVersion` of `1.5` or higher, and cannot be used with encryption or PDF/A-1. Fixes #1810
 - Fix wrapped text with `align: 'center'` sitting left of the middle of the line when `characterSpacing` or `wordSpacing` is set, and with `align: 'right'` running past the right edge by the `wordSpacing` of each gap between words
 - Fix `boundsOfString()` with `lineBreak: false` leaving out `wordSpacing`, so its width now matches the rendered text and its underline
diff --git a/docs/text.md b/docs/text.md
index 52c7a8ed..dd8b17e9 100644
--- a/docs/text.md
+++ b/docs/text.md
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ doing that for long pieces of text. PDFKit can also automatically wrap text
 into multiple columns.
 
 The text will automatically wrap unless you set the `lineBreak` option to `false`.
+A line may break wherever the Unicode line breaking rules allow one, which
+includes after a hyphen or a slash inside a word. Set `lineBreak` to
+`'whitespace'` to break only at whitespace, a soft hyphen or a zero-width space,
+so that a word such as `design-system` or a URL moves to the next line whole.
 By default it will wrap to the page margin, but the `width` option allows
 you to set a different width the text should be wrapped to.
 If you set the `height` option, the text will be clipped to the number of
@@ -83,7 +87,7 @@ PDFKit has many options for controlling the look of text added to PDF
 documents, which can be passed to the `text` method. They are enumerated
 below.
 
-* `lineBreak` - set to `false` to disable line wrapping all together
+* `lineBreak` - set to `false` to disable line wrapping all together, or to `'whitespace'` to break lines only at whitespace, a soft hyphen or a zero-width space, never after a hyphen or a slash inside a word
 * `width` - the width that text should be wrapped to (by default, the page width minus the left and right margin)
 * `height` - the maximum height that text should be clipped to
 * `rotation` - the rotation of the text in degrees (by default 0)
diff --git a/lib/line_wrapper.js b/lib/line_wrapper.js
index ee2f26bf..15257a90 100644
--- a/lib/line_wrapper.js
+++ b/lib/line_wrapper.js
@@ -4,6 +4,15 @@ import { PDFNumber } from './utils';
 
 const SOFT_HYPHEN = '\u00AD';
 const HYPHEN = '-';
+// lineBreak 'whitespace' keeps the breaks after whitespace and after the two
+// characters whose only purpose is to allow a break: a soft hyphen and a
+// zero-width space.
+const WHITESPACE_BREAK = /[\s\u00AD\u200B]/;
+
+const isWhitespaceBreak = (text, bk) =>
+  bk.required ||
+  bk.position >= text.length ||
+  WHITESPACE_BREAK.test(text[bk.position - 1]);
 
 class LineWrapper extends EventEmitter {
   constructor(document, options) {
@@ -30,6 +39,7 @@ class LineWrapper extends EventEmitter {
     this.startY = this.document.y;
     this.column = 1;
     this.ellipsis = options.ellipsis;
+    this.breakAtWhitespaceOnly = options.lineBreak === 'whitespace';
     this.continuedX = 0;
     this.indentApplied = false;
     this.features = options.features;
@@ -130,6 +140,12 @@ class LineWrapper extends EventEmitter {
     const wordWidths = Object.create(null);
 
     while ((bk = breaker.nextBreak())) {
+      // The Unicode rules also allow a break after a hyphen or a slash, which
+      // cuts "design-system" or "https://github.com/x" at a line end; a text
+      // extractor that joins the lines then reads two words.
+      if (this.breakAtWhitespaceOnly && !isWhitespaceBreak(text, bk)) {
+        continue;
+      }
       var shouldContinue;
       let word = text.slice(
         (last != null ? last.position : undefined) || 0,
@@ -219,6 +235,9 @@ class LineWrapper extends EventEmitter {
     if (options.ellipsis != null) {
       this.ellipsis = options.ellipsis;
     }
+    if (options.lineBreak != null) {
+      this.breakAtWhitespaceOnly = options.lineBreak === 'whitespace';
+    }
 
     // make sure we're actually on the page
     // and that the first line of is never by
diff --git a/tests/unit/line_wrapper.spec.js b/tests/unit/line_wrapper.spec.js
index 11c83dba..17c90afc 100644
--- a/tests/unit/line_wrapper.spec.js
+++ b/tests/unit/line_wrapper.spec.js
@@ -275,4 +275,94 @@ describe('LineWrapper', () => {
       expect(line).toEqual({ x: 15, lineWidth: 285 });
     });
   });
+
+  describe('lineBreak whitespace', () => {
+    // each line arrives with its trailing space or newline, which these
+    // tests are not about
+    const wrapLines = (text, options) => {
+      const wrapper = new LineWrapper(document, options);
+      const lines = [];
+      wrapper.on('line', (buffer) => {
+        lines.push(buffer.trimEnd());
+        document.y += document.currentLineHeight(true);
+      });
+      wrapper.wrap(text, options);
+      return lines;
+    };
+    // one point too narrow for the text to fit on one line
+    const widthJustUnder = (text) => document.widthOfString(text) - 1;
+
+    test('by default the Unicode rules break after a hyphen and after a slash', () => {
+      expect(
+        wrapLines('a design-system', {
+          width: widthJustUnder('a design-system'),
+        }),
+      ).toEqual(['a design-', 'system']);
+      expect(
+        wrapLines('see https://github.com/foliojs/pdfkit', {
+          width: widthJustUnder('see https://github.com/foliojs/pdfkit'),
+        }),
+      ).toEqual(['see https://github.com/foliojs/', 'pdfkit']);
+    });
+
+    test('moves a hyphenated word to the next line whole', () => {
+      expect(
+        wrapLines('a design-system', {
+          width: widthJustUnder('a design-system'),
+          lineBreak: 'whitespace',
+        }),
+      ).toEqual(['a', 'design-system']);
+    });
+
+    test('moves a URL to the next line whole', () => {
+      expect(
+        wrapLines('see https://github.com/foliojs/pdfkit', {
+          width: widthJustUnder('see https://github.com/foliojs/pdfkit'),
+          lineBreak: 'whitespace',
+        }),
+      ).toEqual(['see', 'https://github.com/foliojs/pdfkit']);
+    });
+
+    test('still breaks at a soft hyphen and shows the hyphen', () => {
+      expect(
+        wrapLines('a computer\u00ADscreen', {
+          width: widthJustUnder('a computerscreen'),
+          lineBreak: 'whitespace',
+        }),
+      ).toEqual(['a computer-', 'screen']);
+    });
+
+    test('still breaks at a zero-width space', () => {
+      expect(
+        wrapLines('a computer\u200Bscreen', {
+          width: widthJustUnder('a computerscreen'),
+          lineBreak: 'whitespace',
+        }),
+        // the zero-width space stays at the end of the line, as a space does
+      ).toEqual(['a computer\u200B', 'screen']);
+    });
+
+    test('still breaks a paragraph at a newline', () => {
+      expect(
+        wrapLines('design-system\nnext', {
+          width: 300,
+          lineBreak: 'whitespace',
+        }),
+      ).toEqual(['design-system', 'next']);
+    });
+
+    test('still splits a word wider than the line where the line ends', () => {
+      const url = `https://example.com/${'x'.repeat(40)}`;
+      const lines = wrapLines(`see ${url}`, {
+        width: 120,
+        lineBreak: 'whitespace',
+      });
+
+      expect(lines.length).toBeGreaterThan(2);
+      expect(lines.join('')).toBe(`see ${url}`);
+      lines.forEach((line) => {
+        expect(document.widthOfString(line)).toBeLessThanOrEqual(120);
+      });
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/tests/unit/text.spec.js b/tests/unit/text.spec.js
index cd5df975..acdbde3a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/text.spec.js
+++ b/tests/unit/text.spec.js
@@ -289,6 +289,36 @@ Q
         ),
       ]);
     });
+    test('with lineBreak whitespace a hyphenated word moves to the next line whole', () => {
+      const lines = [];
+      const line = document._line;
+      document._line = function (text, options, wrapper) {
+        lines.push(text);
+        return line.call(this, text, options, wrapper);
+      };
+      const width = document.widthOfString('a design-system') - 1;
+
+      document.text('a design-system', { width, lineBreak: 'whitespace' });
+
+      expect(lines).toEqual(['a ', 'design-system']);
+    });
+
+    test('a continued segment can switch to lineBreak whitespace', () => {
+      const lines = [];
+      const line = document._line;
+      document._line = function (text, options, wrapper) {
+        lines.push(text);
+        return line.call(this, text, options, wrapper);
+      };
+      const width = document.widthOfString('a design-system') - 1;
+
+      document.text('a ', { width, continued: true });
+      document.text('design-system', { lineBreak: 'whitespace' });
+
+      // a continued segment whose first word does not fit emits an empty
+      // line to move down before the word
+      expect(lines.filter(Boolean)).toEqual(['a ', 'design-system']);
+    });
   });
 
   describe('text with structure parent links', () => {