diff --git a/src/common.cpp b/src/common.cpp
index 0c052282f..84d2cdd8e 100644
--- a/src/common.cpp
+++ b/src/common.cpp
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ static pthread_t main_thread_id = 0;
 static bool thread_asserts_cfg_for_testing = false;
 
 wchar_t ellipsis_char;
+const wchar_t *ellipsis_str = nullptr;
 wchar_t omitted_newline_char;
 wchar_t obfuscation_read_char;
 bool g_profiling_active = false;
@@ -507,7 +508,14 @@ void fish_setlocale() {
     // true/false value since the code points are in the BMP but we're going to be paranoid. This
     // is also technically wrong if we're not in a Unicode locale but we expect (or hope)
     // can_be_encoded() will return false in that case.
-    ellipsis_char = can_be_encoded(L'\u2026') ? L'\u2026' : L'$';          // "horizontal ellipsis"
+    if (can_be_encoded(L'\u2026')) {
+        ellipsis_char = L'\u2026';
+        ellipsis_str = L"\u2026";
+    }
+    else {
+        ellipsis_char = L'$'; // "horizontal ellipsis"
+        ellipsis_str = L"...";
+    }
     omitted_newline_char = can_be_encoded(L'\u23CE') ? L'\u23CE' : L'~';   // "return"
     obfuscation_read_char = can_be_encoded(L'\u25CF') ? L'\u25CF' : L'#';  // "black circle"
 }
diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index 9320c8e3d..a5b4bb18e 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@ extern struct termios shell_modes;
 /// The character to use where the text has been truncated. Is an ellipsis on unicode system and a $
 /// on other systems.
 extern wchar_t ellipsis_char;
+/// The character or string to use where text has been truncated (ellipsis if possible, otherwise ...)
+extern const wchar_t *ellipsis_str;
 
 /// Character representing an omitted newline at the end of text.
 extern wchar_t omitted_newline_char;
@@ -766,7 +768,7 @@ void assert_is_not_forked_child(const char *who);
 
 /// Detect if we are Windows Subsystem for Linux by inspecting /proc/sys/kernel/osrelease
 /// and checking if "Microsoft" is in the first line.
-/// See https://github.com/Microsoft/WSL/issues/423 and Microsoft/WSL#2997 
+/// See https://github.com/Microsoft/WSL/issues/423 and Microsoft/WSL#2997
 constexpr bool is_windows_subsystem_for_linux() {
 #ifdef WSL
     return true;
diff --git a/src/pager.cpp b/src/pager.cpp
index 702ca0888..a5f0bfcd3 100644
--- a/src/pager.cpp
+++ b/src/pager.cpp
@@ -481,16 +481,13 @@ bool pager_t::completion_try_print(size_t cols, const wcstring &prefix, const co
     assert(stop_row - start_row <= term_height);
     completion_print(cols, width_by_column, start_row, stop_row, prefix, lst, rendering);
 
-    // Ellipsis helper string. Either empty or containing the ellipsis char.
-    const wchar_t ellipsis_string[] = {ellipsis_char == L'\x2026' ? L'\x2026' : L'\0', L'\0'};
-
     // Add the progress line. It's a "more to disclose" line if necessary, or a row listing if
     // it's scrollable; otherwise ignore it.
     // We should never have one row remaining to disclose (else we would have just disclosed it)
     wcstring progress_text;
     assert(rendering->remaining_to_disclose != 1);
     if (rendering->remaining_to_disclose > 1) {
-        progress_text = format_string(_(L"%lsand %lu more rows"), ellipsis_string,
+        progress_text = format_string(_(L"%lsand %lu more rows"), ellipsis_str,
                                       (unsigned long)rendering->remaining_to_disclose);
     } else if (start_row > 0 || stop_row < row_count) {
         // We have a scrollable interface. The +1 here is because we are zero indexed, but want
diff --git a/src/parse_execution.cpp b/src/parse_execution.cpp
index c9bcd6f58..17843b679 100644
--- a/src/parse_execution.cpp
+++ b/src/parse_execution.cpp
@@ -664,13 +664,10 @@ parse_execution_result_t parse_execution_context_t::handle_command_not_found(
         if (!args.empty()) {
             const wcstring argument = get_source(args.at(0));
 
-            wcstring ellipsis_str = wcstring(1, ellipsis_char);
-            if (ellipsis_str == L"$") ellipsis_str = L"...";
-
             // Looks like a command.
             this->report_error(statement, ERROR_BAD_EQUALS_IN_COMMAND5, argument.c_str(),
                                name_str.c_str(), val_str.c_str(), argument.c_str(),
-                               ellipsis_str.c_str());
+                               ellipsis_str);
         } else {
             wcstring assigned_val = reconstruct_orig_str(val_str);
             this->report_error(statement, ERROR_BAD_COMMAND_ASSIGN_ERR_MSG, name_str.c_str(),
diff --git a/src/proc.cpp b/src/proc.cpp
index b349aaf63..b7fb937ae 100644
--- a/src/proc.cpp
+++ b/src/proc.cpp
@@ -452,8 +452,7 @@ static wcstring truncate_command(const wcstring &cmd) {
     }
 
     // Truncation required.
-    const bool ellipsis_is_unicode = (ellipsis_char == L'\x2026');
-    const size_t ellipsis_length = ellipsis_is_unicode ? 1 : 3;
+    const size_t ellipsis_length = wcslen(ellipsis_str); //no need for wcwidth
     size_t trunc_length = max_len - ellipsis_length;
     // Eat trailing whitespace.
     while (trunc_length > 0 && iswspace(cmd.at(trunc_length - 1))) {
@@ -461,11 +460,7 @@ static wcstring truncate_command(const wcstring &cmd) {
     }
     wcstring result = wcstring(cmd, 0, trunc_length);
     // Append ellipsis.
-    if (ellipsis_is_unicode) {
-        result.push_back(ellipsis_char);
-    } else {
-        result.append(L"...");
-    }
+    result.append(ellipsis_str);
     return result;
 }