diff --git a/lib/src/lexer.c b/lib/src/lexer.c
index 57dc55d5..f2c10fbd 100644
--- a/lib/src/lexer.c
+++ b/lib/src/lexer.c
@@ -210,12 +210,6 @@ static void ts_lexer__advance(TSLexer *_self, bool skip) {
   ts_lexer__do_advance(self, skip);
 }
 
-// Advance without logging.
-static void ts_lexer__advance_no_log(Lexer *self, bool skip) {
-  if (!self->chunk) return;
-  ts_lexer__do_advance(self, skip);
-}
-
 // Mark that a token match has completed. This can be called multiple
 // times if a longer match is found later.
 static void ts_lexer__mark_end(TSLexer *_self) {
@@ -257,8 +251,8 @@ static uint32_t ts_lexer__get_column(TSLexer *_self) {
 
   uint32_t result = 0;
   ts_lexer__get_lookahead(self);
-  while (self->current_position.bytes < goal_byte && !ts_lexer__eof(_self)) {
-    ts_lexer__advance_no_log(self, false);
+  while (self->current_position.bytes < goal_byte && !ts_lexer__eof(_self) && self->chunk) {
+    ts_lexer__do_advance(self, false);
     result++;
   }
 
diff --git a/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/README.md b/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8fe141d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+This tests that `get_column` correctly counts codepoints since start of line.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/corpus.txt b/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/corpus.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..de7a5f24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/corpus.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+========================
+Single list, no boxes
+========================
+
+-
+-
+-
+
+----------------------
+
+(expression
+  (list
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+  )
+)
+
+========================
+Two lists, no boxes
+========================
+
+ -
+ -
+ -
+  -
+  -
+
+----------------------
+
+(expression
+  (list
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+  )
+  (list
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+  )
+)
+
+========================
+List with boxes
+========================
+
+ -
+□-
+ -
+
+----------------------
+
+(expression
+  (list
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+  )
+)
+
+========================
+Multiple lists with boxes
+========================
+
+   -
+□ □-
+ □ -
+□□□□□□-
+□ □ □ -
+      -
+□□□   -
+□□□-
+□ □-
+
+----------------------
+
+(expression
+  (list
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+  )
+  (list
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+  )
+  (list
+    (list_item)
+    (list_item)
+  )
+)
diff --git a/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/grammar.js b/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/grammar.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3016b31d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/grammar.js
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+module.exports = grammar({
+  name: "external_unicode_column_alignment",
+
+  externals: $ => [
+    $._start_list,
+    $.list_item,
+    $._end_list
+  ],
+
+  extras: $ => [/\s/, '□'],
+
+  rules: {
+    expression: $ => repeat($.list),
+    
+    list: $ => seq($._start_list, repeat1($.list_item), $._end_list)
+  }
+})
diff --git a/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/scanner.c b/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/scanner.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..13d9f9db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/test_grammars/external_unicode_column_alignment/scanner.c
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+#include <tree_sitter/parser.h>
+
+enum {
+  LIST_START,
+  LIST_ITEM,
+  LIST_END
+};
+
+typedef struct {
+  int32_t column;
+} Scanner;
+
+void *tree_sitter_external_unicode_column_alignment_external_scanner_create() {
+  Scanner *scanner = malloc(sizeof(Scanner));
+  *scanner = (Scanner){
+    .column = -1 
+  };
+  return scanner;
+}
+
+void tree_sitter_external_unicode_column_alignment_external_scanner_destroy(void *payload) {
+  free(payload);
+}
+
+unsigned tree_sitter_external_unicode_column_alignment_external_scanner_serialize(
+  void *payload,
+  char *buffer
+) {
+  Scanner *scanner = payload;
+  unsigned copied = sizeof(int32_t);
+  memcpy(buffer, &(scanner->column), copied);
+  return copied;
+}
+
+void tree_sitter_external_unicode_column_alignment_external_scanner_deserialize(
+  void *payload,
+  const char *buffer,
+  unsigned length
+) {
+  Scanner *scanner = payload;
+  scanner->column = -1;
+  if (length > 0) {
+    memcpy(&(scanner->column), buffer, sizeof(int32_t));
+  }
+}
+
+bool tree_sitter_external_unicode_column_alignment_external_scanner_scan(
+  void *payload,
+  TSLexer *lexer,
+  const bool *whitelist
+) {
+  Scanner *scanner = payload;
+  // 9633 is the int equivalent of □ (U+25A1)
+  while (iswspace(lexer->lookahead) || 9633 == lexer->lookahead) {
+    lexer->advance(lexer, true);
+  } 
+  if ('-' == lexer->lookahead) {
+    const int32_t column = lexer->get_column(lexer);
+    if (-1 == scanner->column) {
+      lexer->result_symbol = LIST_START;
+      scanner->column = column;
+      return true;
+    } else {
+      if (column == scanner->column) {
+        lexer->result_symbol = LIST_ITEM;
+        lexer->advance(lexer, false);
+        return true;
+      } else {
+        lexer->result_symbol = LIST_END;
+        scanner->column = -1;
+        return true;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  
+  if (lexer->eof(lexer) && -1 != scanner->column) {
+    lexer->result_symbol = LIST_END;
+    scanner->column = -1;
+    return true;
+  }
+  
+  return false;
+}