diff --git a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
index c959c056fece45..e3b41d763635e9 100644
--- a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
+++ b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
@@ -2624,6 +2624,8 @@ function isBelowBreakLength(ctx, output, start, base) {
   // TODO(BridgeAR): Add unicode support. Use the readline getStringWidth
   // function. Check the performance overhead and make it an opt-in in case it's
   // significant.
+  // allow the single-line format if the length limit is infinite
+  if ( ctx.breakLength === Infinity) return true;
   let totalLength = output.length + start;
   if (totalLength + output.length > ctx.breakLength)
     return false;
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js b/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js
index 6a1da6d4129fbd..dcf0f0443ee709 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js
@@ -4058,3 +4058,9 @@ ${error.stack.split('\n').slice(1).join('\n')}`,
   assert.match(inspect(DOMException.prototype), /^\[object DOMException\] \{/);
   delete Error[Symbol.hasInstance];
 }
+
+{
+  const obj = { long: 'a'.repeat(100), another: 'b'.repeat(100) };
+  const result = util.inspect(obj, { breakLength: Infinity });
+  assert.strictEqual(result.includes('\n'), false);
+}