diff --git a/src/layout.js b/src/layout.js
index 0e4f7b3..060f3bf 100644
--- a/src/layout.js
+++ b/src/layout.js
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ export function buildLayout(cards, width, config) {
   }
   colnum = Math.max(colnum, config.min_columns);
   colnum = Math.min(colnum, config.max_columns);
+  colnum = Math.max(colnum,1);
 
   let cols = [];
   for (let i = 0; i < colnum; i++) {
@@ -100,4 +101,4 @@ export function buildLayout(cards, width, config) {
   cols = cols.filter((c) => c.childElementCount > 0);
 
   return cols;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}