diff --git a/contrib/netbsd-tests/usr.bin/grep/t_grep.sh b/contrib/netbsd-tests/usr.bin/grep/t_grep.sh
index 4833ef393af..e0aaf2dcb3e 100755
--- a/contrib/netbsd-tests/usr.bin/grep/t_grep.sh
+++ b/contrib/netbsd-tests/usr.bin/grep/t_grep.sh
@@ -412,6 +412,26 @@ wflag_emptypat_body()
 	atf_check -o file:test4 grep -w -e "" test4
 }
 
+atf_test_case excessive_matches
+excessive_matches_head()
+{
+	atf_set "descr" "Check for proper handling of lines with excessive matches (PR 218811)"
+}
+excessive_matches_body()
+{
+	grep_type
+	if [ $type -eq $GREP_TYPE_GNU_FREEBSD ]; then
+		atf_expect_fail "this test does not pass with GNU grep in base"
+	fi
+
+	for i in $(jot 4096); do
+		printf "x" >> test.in
+	done
+
+	atf_check -s exit:0 -x '[ $(grep -o x test.in | wc -l) -eq 4096 ]'
+	atf_check -s exit:1 -x 'grep -on x test.in | grep -v "1:x"'
+}
+
 atf_test_case fgrep_sanity
 fgrep_sanity_head()
 {
@@ -500,6 +520,7 @@ atf_init_test_cases()
 	atf_add_test_case egrep_empty_invalid
 	atf_add_test_case zerolen
 	atf_add_test_case wflag_emptypat
+	atf_add_test_case excessive_matches
 	atf_add_test_case fgrep_sanity
 	atf_add_test_case egrep_sanity
 	atf_add_test_case grep_sanity
diff --git a/usr.bin/grep/util.c b/usr.bin/grep/util.c
index 014aaa4ed7a..d116e916bf2 100644
--- a/usr.bin/grep/util.c
+++ b/usr.bin/grep/util.c
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ static bool	 first_match = true;
 struct parsec {
 	regmatch_t matches[MAX_LINE_MATCHES];	/* Matches made */
 	struct str ln;				/* Current line */
+	size_t lnstart;
 	size_t matchidx;			/* Latest used match index */
 	bool binary;				/* Binary file? */
 };
@@ -244,8 +245,9 @@ procfile(const char *fn)
 	same_file = false;
 
 	for (c = 0;  c == 0 || !(lflag || qflag); ) {
-		/* Reset match count for every line processed */
+		/* Reset match count and line start for every line processed */
 		pc.matchidx = 0;
+		pc.lnstart = 0;
 		pc.ln.off += pc.ln.len + 1;
 		if ((pc.ln.dat = grep_fgetln(f, &pc.ln.len)) == NULL || pc.ln.len == 0) {
 			if (pc.ln.line_no == 0 && matchall)
@@ -281,6 +283,14 @@ procfile(const char *fn)
 		/* Print the matching line, but only if not quiet/binary */
 		if (t == 0 && !qflag && !pc.binary) {
 			printline(&pc, ':');
+			while(pc.matchidx >= MAX_LINE_MATCHES) {
+				/* Reset matchidx and try again */
+				pc.matchidx = 0;
+				if (procline(&pc) == 0)
+					printline(&pc, ':');
+				else
+					break;
+			}
 			first_match = false;
 			same_file = true;
 			last_outed = 0;
@@ -349,7 +359,7 @@ procline(struct parsec *pc)
 {
 	regmatch_t pmatch, lastmatch, chkmatch;
 	wchar_t wbegin, wend;
-	size_t st = 0, nst = 0;
+	size_t st, nst;
 	unsigned int i;
 	int c = 0, r = 0, lastmatches = 0, leflags = eflags;
 	size_t startm = 0, matchidx;
@@ -368,6 +378,8 @@ procline(struct parsec *pc)
 	} else if (matchall)
 		return (0);
 
+	st = pc->lnstart;
+	nst = 0;
 	/* Initialize to avoid a false positive warning from GCC. */
 	lastmatch.rm_so = lastmatch.rm_eo = 0;
 
@@ -440,6 +452,11 @@ procline(struct parsec *pc)
 						pc->matches[matchidx++] = pmatch;
 						nst = pmatch.rm_eo;
 					}
+				} else {
+					/* Make sure we restart matching here */
+					pc->lnstart = st;
+					lastmatches = 0;
+					break;
 				}
 
 				/* matches - skip further patterns */
@@ -471,6 +488,7 @@ procline(struct parsec *pc)
 
 		/* Advance st based on previous matches */
 		st = nst;
+		pc->lnstart = st;
 	}
 
 	/* Reflect the new matchidx in the context */
@@ -591,12 +609,13 @@ printline(struct parsec *pc, int sep)
 
 	/* --color and -o */
 	if ((oflag || color) && matchidx > 0) {
-		printline_metadata(&pc->ln, sep);
 		for (i = 0; i < matchidx; i++) {
 			match = pc->matches[i];
 			/* Don't output zero length matches */
 			if (match.rm_so == match.rm_eo)
 				continue;
+			/* Metadata should be printed on a per-line basis */
+			printline_metadata(&pc->ln, sep);
 			if (!oflag)
 				fwrite(pc->ln.dat + a, match.rm_so - a, 1,
 				    stdout);