diff --git a/spec/lib/fingers/hinter_spec.cr b/spec/lib/fingers/hinter_spec.cr
index 7effc36..c53b313 100644
--- a/spec/lib/fingers/hinter_spec.cr
+++ b/spec/lib/fingers/hinter_spec.cr
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ describe Fingers::Hinter do
     alphabet = "asdf".split("")
 
     hinter = Fingers::Hinter.new(
-      input: input,
+      input: input.split("\n"),
       width: width,
       patterns: patterns,
       state: ::Fingers::State.new,
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ Changes not staged for commit:
     alphabet = "asdf".split("")
 
     hinter = Fingers::Hinter.new(
-      input: input,
+      input: input.split("\n"),
       width: width,
       patterns: patterns,
       state: ::Fingers::State.new,
diff --git a/src/fingers/commands/start.cr b/src/fingers/commands/start.cr
index a478962..320f026 100644
--- a/src/fingers/commands/start.cr
+++ b/src/fingers/commands/start.cr
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ module Fingers::Commands
         fingers_window.window_id,
         target_pane.pane_width,
         target_pane.pane_height,
-      )
+      ) if needs_resize?
 
       view.render
       tmux.swap_panes(fingers_window.pane_id, target_pane.pane_id)
@@ -83,6 +83,11 @@ module Fingers::Commands
       end
     end
 
+    private def needs_resize?
+      pane_width = target_pane.pane_width.to_i
+      pane_contents.any? { |line| line.size > pane_width }
+    end
+
     private def teardown
       tmux.set_key_table "root"
 
@@ -115,13 +120,17 @@ module Fingers::Commands
 
     private getter hinter : Hinter do
       Fingers::Hinter.new(
-        input: tmux.capture_pane(target_pane),
+        input: pane_contents,
         width: target_pane.pane_width.to_i,
         state: state,
         output: pane_printer
       )
     end
 
+    private getter pane_contents : Array(String) do
+      tmux.capture_pane(target_pane).split("\n")
+    end
+
     private getter view : View do
       ::Fingers::View.new(
         hinter: hinter,
diff --git a/src/fingers/hinter.cr b/src/fingers/hinter.cr
index a8928f6..2e50a15 100644
--- a/src/fingers/hinter.cr
+++ b/src/fingers/hinter.cr
@@ -8,13 +8,12 @@ module Fingers
     @formatter : Formatter
     @patterns : Array(String)
     @alphabet : Array(String)
-    @lines : Array(String) | Nil
     @pattern : Regex | Nil
     @hints : Array(String) | Nil
     @n_matches : Int32 | Nil
 
     def initialize(
-      input : String,
+      input : Array(String),
       width : Int32,
       state : Fingers::State,
       output : Printer,
@@ -23,7 +22,7 @@ module Fingers
       huffman = Huffman.new,
       formatter = ::Fingers::MatchFormatter.new
     )
-      @input = input
+      @lines = input
       @width = width
       @hints_by_text = {} of String => String
       @lookup_table = {} of String => String
@@ -133,10 +132,6 @@ module Fingers
       pattern.name_table.compact_map { |k, v| v == "capture" ? k : nil }
     end
 
-    def lines : Array(String)
-      @lines ||= input.split("\n")
-    end
-
     def n_matches : Int32
       return @n_matches.as(Int32) if !@n_matches.nil?
 
@@ -152,5 +147,7 @@ module Fingers
 
       match_set.size
     end
+
+    private property lines : Array(String)
   end
 end