diff --git a/src/common/fonts/font.cpp b/src/common/fonts/font.cpp
index 6ba5046fc0..148631670f 100644
--- a/src/common/fonts/font.cpp
+++ b/src/common/fonts/font.cpp
@@ -1093,7 +1093,7 @@ bool FFont::CanPrint(const uint8_t *string) const
 //
 //==========================================================================
 
-int FFont::StringWidth(const uint8_t *string) const
+int FFont::StringWidth(const uint8_t *string, int spacing) const
 {
 	int w = 0;
 	int maxw = 0;
@@ -1123,13 +1123,17 @@ int FFont::StringWidth(const uint8_t *string) const
 				maxw = w;
 			w = 0;
 		}
+		else if (spacing >= 0)
+		{
+			w += GetCharWidth(chr) + GlobalKerning + spacing;
+		}
 		else
 		{
-			w += GetCharWidth(chr) + GlobalKerning;
+			w -= spacing;
 		}
 	}
 
-	return MAX(maxw, w);
+	return std::max(maxw, w);
 }
 
 //==========================================================================
diff --git a/src/common/fonts/v_font.h b/src/common/fonts/v_font.h
index 41fabb0967..71ba99ed75 100644
--- a/src/common/fonts/v_font.h
+++ b/src/common/fonts/v_font.h
@@ -113,9 +113,9 @@ public:
 	static FFont *FindFont(FName fontname);
 
 	// Return width of string in pixels (unscaled)
-	int StringWidth (const uint8_t *str) const;
-	inline int StringWidth (const char *str) const { return StringWidth ((const uint8_t *)str); }
-	inline int StringWidth (const FString &str) const { return StringWidth ((const uint8_t *)str.GetChars()); }
+	int StringWidth (const uint8_t *str, int spacing = 0) const;
+	inline int StringWidth (const char *str, int spacing = 0) const { return StringWidth ((const uint8_t *)str, spacing); }
+	inline int StringWidth (const FString &str, int spacing = 0) const { return StringWidth ((const uint8_t *)str.GetChars(), spacing); }
 
 	// Checks if the font contains all characters to print this text.
 	bool CanPrint(const uint8_t *str) const;
diff --git a/src/g_statusbar/shared_sbar.cpp b/src/g_statusbar/shared_sbar.cpp
index e7108e512c..e9282b72aa 100644
--- a/src/g_statusbar/shared_sbar.cpp
+++ b/src/g_statusbar/shared_sbar.cpp
@@ -1670,20 +1670,17 @@ void DBaseStatusBar::DrawString(FFont *font, const FString &cstring, double x, d
 {
 	bool monospaced = monospacing != EMonospacing::Off;
 	double dx = 0;
+	int spacingparm = monospaced ? -spacing : spacing;
 
 	switch (flags & DI_TEXT_ALIGN)
 	{
 	default:
 		break;
 	case DI_TEXT_ALIGN_RIGHT:
-		dx = monospaced
-			? static_cast<int> ((spacing)*cstring.CharacterCount()) //monospaced, so just multiply the character size
-			: static_cast<int> (font->StringWidth(cstring) + (spacing * cstring.CharacterCount()));
+		dx = font->StringWidth(cstring, spacingparm);
 		break;
 	case DI_TEXT_ALIGN_CENTER:
-		dx = monospaced
-			? static_cast<int> ((spacing)*cstring.CharacterCount()) / 2 //monospaced, so just multiply the character size
-			: static_cast<int> (font->StringWidth(cstring) + (spacing * cstring.CharacterCount())) / 2;
+		dx = font->StringWidth(cstring, spacingparm) / 2;
 		break;
 	}