diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b7e460a..344aea1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 - Syntax highlighting for Python files using uv as script runner in shebang #3689 (@janlarres)
 
 ## Bugfixes
+- Turn off the `less` status column (`-J`, e.g. from `$LESS`) so wrapped lines no longer overlap the line numbers, closes #2497, see #4085 (@dualfroz)
 - Exit quietly with status 0 instead of panicking when stdout is closed early (broken pipe) on auxiliary output paths such as `--completion`, `--config-file`, `--diagnostic`, `--generate-config-file`, `--set-terminal-title` and `cache --build`/`--clear`, matching the main output path since #232, closes #4034, see #4035 (@Mathjk)
 - Track strikethrough (SGR 9 / 29) in the ANSI style tracker so it is re-emitted like bold, dim, italic, and underline, and is no longer dropped after the first highlighted token when displaying ANSI input with syntax highlighting, see #4015 (@mikehasa)
 - Allow boolean flags to be given more than once, so that a flag set in the config file can also be passed on the command line without erroring, see #3912 (@logarithmone1128)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8826d4e..7640c13 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ Instead of using environment variables, you can also use `bat`'s [configuration
 
 When using `less` as a pager, `bat` will automatically pass extra options along to `less`
 to improve the experience. Specifically, `-R`/`--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS`, `-F`/`--quit-if-one-screen`,
-`-K`/`--quit-on-intr` and under certain conditions, `-X`/`--no-init` and/or `-S`/`--chop-long-lines`.
+`-K`/`--quit-on-intr`, `-+J` and under certain conditions, `-X`/`--no-init` and/or `-S`/`--chop-long-lines`.
 
 >[!IMPORTANT]
 > These options will not be added if:
@@ -687,6 +687,9 @@ have to press `q` to quit the pager.
 The `-K`/`--quit-on-intr` option instructs `less` to exit immediately when an interrupt signal is received.
 This is useful to ensure that `less` quits together with `bat` on SIGINT.
 
+The `-+J` option turns off the `-J`/`--status-column` option, e.g. when it is set in the `LESS` environment variable.
+The status column takes up two columns, so lines that `bat` already wrapped to the terminal width would wrap again.
+
 The `-X`/`--no-init` option is added to versions of `less` older than version 530 (older than 558 on Windows) to
 fix a bug with the `-F`/`--quit-if-one-screen` feature. Unfortunately, it also breaks mouse-wheel support in `less`.
 If you want to enable mouse-wheel scrolling on older versions of `less` and do not mind losing
diff --git a/src/output.rs b/src/output.rs
index 8054be4..98d8c64 100644
--- a/src/output.rs
+++ b/src/output.rs
@@ -155,6 +155,13 @@ impl OutputType {
                     p.arg("-K"); // Short version of '--quit-on-intr'
                 }
 
+                // The status column ('-J', e.g. from $LESS) takes two columns away from
+                // lines that bat already wrapped to the terminal width, so turn it off.
+                // The BusyBox version of less does not support '-+'.
+                if less_version != Some(LessVersion::BusyBox) {
+                    p.arg("-+J"); // Resets '--status-column' to its default
+                }
+
                 // Passing '--no-init' fixes a bug with '--quit-if-one-screen' in older
                 // versions of 'less'. Unfortunately, it also breaks mouse-wheel support.
                 //
diff --git a/tests/integration_tests.rs b/tests/integration_tests.rs
index 9463be3..33f88ed 100644
--- a/tests/integration_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/integration_tests.rs
@@ -1586,6 +1586,20 @@ fn pager_more() {
     });
 }
 
+/// The status column of less (-J, e.g. from $LESS) makes lines wrap onto
+/// the decorations, so it has to be reset when bat builds the less arguments
+#[test]
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn pager_less_resets_status_column() {
+    bat()
+        .arg("--pager=../mocked-pagers/less.sh")
+        .arg("--paging=always")
+        .arg("test.txt")
+        .assert()
+        .success()
+        .stdout(predicate::str::contains("-+J"));
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn alias_pager_disable() {
     bat()
diff --git a/tests/mocked-pagers/less.sh b/tests/mocked-pagers/less.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9f1dcd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/mocked-pagers/less.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+echo "$@"