diff --git a/ChangeLog.adoc b/ChangeLog.adoc
index 0e57c0f93..793b20da8 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.adoc
+++ b/ChangeLog.adoc
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ Bug fixes::
 
   * core: fix crash on plugin reload when using musl libc (issue #2052)
   * core: fix infinite loop in display when the chat area is too small (issue #2053)
+  * irc: fix display of self messages when the message split fails due to inconsistent max lengths sent by the server in message 005
 
 [[v4.0.7]]
 == Version 4.0.7 (2023-12-03)
diff --git a/src/plugins/irc/irc-message.c b/src/plugins/irc/irc-message.c
index e85d7b14a..181483a7b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/irc/irc-message.c
+++ b/src/plugins/irc/irc-message.c
@@ -1055,9 +1055,6 @@ irc_message_split_string (struct t_irc_message_split_context *context,
     if (suffix)
         max_length -= strlen (suffix);
 
-    if (max_length < 2)
-        return 0;
-
     /* debug message */
     if (weechat_irc_plugin->debug >= 2)
     {
@@ -1069,17 +1066,23 @@ irc_message_split_string (struct t_irc_message_split_context *context,
                         max_length);
     }
 
-    if (!arguments || !arguments[0])
+    if ((max_length < 2) || !arguments || !arguments[0])
     {
-        snprintf (message, sizeof (message), "%s%s%s %s%s%s%s",
+        /*
+         * max length is not known (server probably sent values that are not
+         * consistent), or no arguments => in this case, we just return message
+         * as-is (no split)
+         */
+        snprintf (message, sizeof (message), "%s%s%s %s%s%s%s%s",
                   (host) ? host : "",
                   (host) ? " " : "",
                   command,
                   (target) ? target : "",
                   (target && target[0]) ? " " : "",
                   (prefix) ? prefix : "",
+                  (arguments) ? arguments : "",
                   (suffix) ? suffix : "");
-        irc_message_split_add (context, tags, message, "");
+        irc_message_split_add (context, tags, message, (arguments) ? arguments : "");
         (context->number)++;
         return 1;
     }
diff --git a/tests/unit/plugins/irc/test-irc-message.cpp b/tests/unit/plugins/irc/test-irc-message.cpp
index 605a7a19d..538beb551 100644
--- a/tests/unit/plugins/irc/test-irc-message.cpp
+++ b/tests/unit/plugins/irc/test-irc-message.cpp
@@ -1137,6 +1137,7 @@ TEST(IrcMessage, Split)
     struct t_hashtable *hashtable;
     const char *ptr_msg, *pos1, *pos2;
     char batch_ref[512], msg[4096];
+    int old_nick_max_length;
 
     server = irc_server_alloc ("test_split_msg");
     CHECK(server);
@@ -1552,6 +1553,21 @@ TEST(IrcMessage, Split)
                  (const char *)hashtable_get (hashtable, "args1"));
     hashtable_free (hashtable);
 
+    /* PRIVMSG with small content but inconsistent max length: no split */
+    old_nick_max_length = server->nick_max_length;
+    server->nick_max_length = 4096;
+    hashtable = irc_message_split (server, "PRIVMSG #channel :test");
+    CHECK(hashtable);
+    LONGS_EQUAL(3, hashtable->items_count);
+    STRCMP_EQUAL("1",
+                 (const char *)hashtable_get (hashtable, "count"));
+    STRCMP_EQUAL("PRIVMSG #channel :test",
+                 (const char *)hashtable_get (hashtable, "msg1"));
+    STRCMP_EQUAL("test",
+                 (const char *)hashtable_get (hashtable, "args1"));
+    hashtable_free (hashtable);
+    server->nick_max_length = old_nick_max_length;
+
     /* PRIVMSG with 512 bytes of content: 1 split */
     hashtable = irc_message_split (server,
                                    "PRIVMSG #channel :" LOREM_IPSUM_512);