diff --git a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
index c959c056fece45..9eb8ea66e444cb 100644
--- a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
+++ b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
@@ -2624,6 +2624,14 @@ function isBelowBreakLength(ctx, output, start, base) {
   // TODO(BridgeAR): Add unicode support. Use the readline getStringWidth
   // function. Check the performance overhead and make it an opt-in in case it's
   // significant.
+  // allow the single-line format if the length limit is infinite and no items have newlines
+  if (ctx.breakLength === Infinity) {
+    if (base !== '' && StringPrototypeIncludes(base, '\n')) return false;
+    for (let i = 0; i < output.length; i++) {
+      if (typeof output[i] === 'string' && StringPrototypeIncludes(output[i], '\n')) return false;
+    }
+    return true;
+  }
   let totalLength = output.length + start;
   if (totalLength + output.length > ctx.breakLength)
     return false;
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js b/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js
index 6a1da6d4129fbd..69abc84675bcca 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js
@@ -4058,3 +4058,9 @@ ${error.stack.split('\n').slice(1).join('\n')}`,
   assert.match(inspect(DOMException.prototype), /^\[object DOMException\] \{/);
   delete Error[Symbol.hasInstance];
 }
+
+{
+  const obj = { long: 'a'.repeat(100), another: 'b'.repeat(100) };
+  const result = util.inspect(obj, { breakLength: Infinity });
+  assert.ok(!result.includes('\n'));
+}