diff --git a/src/main/java/com/hubspot/jinjava/interpret/JinjavaInterpreter.java b/src/main/java/com/hubspot/jinjava/interpret/JinjavaInterpreter.java
index 1fb6a5e94..1bb10fad0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/hubspot/jinjava/interpret/JinjavaInterpreter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/hubspot/jinjava/interpret/JinjavaInterpreter.java
@@ -301,10 +301,7 @@ public String render(Node root, boolean processExtendRoots) {
    * @return rendered result
    */
   private String render(Node root, boolean processExtendRoots, long renderLimit) {
-    long safeRenderSize = (config.getMaxOutputSize() == 0)
-      ? renderLimit
-      : Math.min(renderLimit, config.getMaxOutputSize());
-    OutputList output = new OutputList(safeRenderSize);
+    OutputList output = new OutputList(clampOutputSizeSafely(renderLimit));
     for (Node node : root.getChildren()) {
       lineNumber = node.getLineNumber();
       position = node.getStartPosition();
@@ -927,6 +924,20 @@ private String getWrappedErrorMessage(
     }
   }
 
+  private long clampOutputSizeSafely(long providedLimit) {
+    long configMaxOutput = config.getMaxOutputSize();
+
+    if (configMaxOutput == 0) {
+      return providedLimit;
+    }
+
+    if (providedLimit <= 0) {
+      return configMaxOutput;
+    }
+
+    return Math.min(providedLimit, configMaxOutput);
+  }
+
   @Override
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   public <T extends Appendable & CharSequence> T appendPyishString(T appendable)