diff --git a/src/dia/attributes/index.mjs b/src/dia/attributes/index.mjs
index 37d6b993a..e94664be8 100644
--- a/src/dia/attributes/index.mjs
+++ b/src/dia/attributes/index.mjs
@@ -419,6 +419,7 @@ const attributesNS = {
                     svgDocument: this.paper.svg,
                     ellipsis: value.ellipsis,
                     hyphen: value.hyphen,
+                    separator: value.separator,
                     maxLineCount: value.maxLineCount,
                     preserveSpaces: value.preserveSpaces
                 });
diff --git a/src/util/util.mjs b/src/util/util.mjs
index 9e734a293..57d08f1a0 100644
--- a/src/util/util.mjs
+++ b/src/util/util.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import $ from 'jquery';
 import V from '../V/index.mjs';
 import { config } from '../config/index.mjs';
-import { 
+import {
     isBoolean,
     isObject,
     isNumber,
@@ -627,7 +627,9 @@ export const breakText = function(text, size, styles = {}, opt = {}) {
 
     const preserveSpaces = opt.preserveSpaces;
     const space = ' ';
-    var separator = opt.separator || space;
+    const separator = (opt.separator || opt.separator === '') ? opt.separator : space;
+    // If separator is a RegExp, we use the space character to join words together again (not ideal)
+    const separatorChar = (typeof separator === 'string') ? separator : space;
     var eol = opt.eol || '\n';
     var hyphen = opt.hyphen ? new RegExp(opt.hyphen) : /[^\w\d]/;
     var maxLineCount = opt.maxLineCount;
@@ -677,9 +679,9 @@ export const breakText = function(text, size, styles = {}, opt = {}) {
 
             let data;
             if (preserveSpaces) {
-                data = lines[l] !== undefined ? lines[l] + space + word : word;
+                data = lines[l] !== undefined ? lines[l] + separatorChar + word : word;
             } else {
-                data = lines[l] ? lines[l] + space + word : word;
+                data = lines[l] ? lines[l] + separatorChar + word : word;
             }
 
             textNode.data = data;
@@ -690,7 +692,7 @@ export const breakText = function(text, size, styles = {}, opt = {}) {
                 lines[l] = data;
 
                 if (p || h) {
-                // We were partitioning. Put rest of the word onto next line
+                    // We were partitioning. Put rest of the word onto next line
                     full[l++] = true;
 
                     // cancel partitioning and splitting by hyphens
@@ -819,12 +821,11 @@ export const breakText = function(text, size, styles = {}, opt = {}) {
             var lastLine = lines[lastL];
             if (!lastLine && !isEol) break;
             var k = lastLine.length;
-            var lastLineWithOmission, lastChar, separatorChar;
+            var lastLineWithOmission, lastChar;
             do {
                 lastChar = lastLine[k];
                 lastLineWithOmission = lastLine.substring(0, k);
                 if (!lastChar) {
-                    separatorChar = (typeof separator === 'string') ? separator : ' ';
                     lastLineWithOmission += separatorChar;
                 } else if (lastChar.match(separator)) {
                     lastLineWithOmission += lastChar;
@@ -1766,7 +1767,7 @@ export const toggleFullScreen = function(el) {
     }
 };
 
-export { 
+export {
     isBoolean,
     isObject,
     isNumber,
@@ -1792,7 +1793,7 @@ export {
     debounce,
     groupBy,
     sortBy,
-    flattenDeep, 
+    flattenDeep,
     without,
     difference,
     intersection,
diff --git a/test/jointjs/core/util.js b/test/jointjs/core/util.js
index 0813d1ffb..a5c442fb9 100644
--- a/test/jointjs/core/util.js
+++ b/test/jointjs/core/util.js
@@ -142,6 +142,31 @@ QUnit.module('util', function(hooks) {
             assert.equal(r.split('\n').length, 2);
         });
 
+        QUnit.test('separator', function(assert) {
+
+            const WIDTH = 30;
+            let t, r;
+
+            t = 'ab';
+            r = joint.util.breakText(t, { width: WIDTH }, styles, { separator: '' });
+            assert.equal(r, 'ab');
+
+            t = 'a b';
+            r = joint.util.breakText(t, { width: WIDTH }, styles, { separator: '' });
+            assert.equal(r, 'a b');
+
+            t = 'abcdefgh';
+            r = joint.util.breakText(t, { width: WIDTH }, styles, { separator: '' });
+            assert.equal(r, 'abcd\nefgh');
+
+            t = 'a*b';
+            r = joint.util.breakText(t, { width: WIDTH }, styles, { separator: '*' });
+            assert.equal(r, 'a*b');
+
+            t = 'ab*cde*fgh';
+            r = joint.util.breakText(t, { width: WIDTH }, styles, { separator: '*' });
+            assert.equal(r, 'ab\ncde\nfgh');
+        });
 
         QUnit.test('ellipsis', function(assert) {
 
diff --git a/types/joint.d.ts b/types/joint.d.ts
index 300167c76..d58ad2cbe 100644
--- a/types/joint.d.ts
+++ b/types/joint.d.ts
@@ -3953,6 +3953,7 @@ export namespace attributes {
         width?: string | number | null;
         height?: string | number | null;
         ellipsis?: boolean | string;
+        separator?: string;
         hyphen?: string;
         maxLineCount?: number;
         preserveSpaces?: boolean;