diff --git a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/num_format.rs b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/num_format.rs
index b52859de90..68b60f4983 100644
--- a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/num_format.rs
+++ b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/num_format.rs
@@ -749,6 +749,33 @@ fn strip_fractional_zeroes_and_dot(s: &mut String) {
     }
 }
 
+/// Write `n` zero bytes to `writer`.
+///
+/// Like `write_zeros` in spec.rs, this avoids feeding large widths into
+/// Rust's `write!` macro, which panics for widths above `u16::MAX`.
+fn write_zeros(mut writer: impl Write, n: usize) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+    const ZEROS: [u8; 64] = [b'0'; 64];
+    let mut remaining = n;
+    while remaining > 0 {
+        let chunk = remaining.min(ZEROS.len());
+        writer.write_all(&ZEROS[..chunk])?;
+        remaining -= chunk;
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Write `n` space bytes to `writer`.
+fn write_spaces(mut writer: impl Write, n: usize) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+    const SPACES: [u8; 64] = [b' '; 64];
+    let mut remaining = n;
+    while remaining > 0 {
+        let chunk = remaining.min(SPACES.len());
+        writer.write_all(&SPACES[..chunk])?;
+        remaining -= chunk;
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 fn write_output(
     mut writer: impl Write,
     sign_indicator: String,
@@ -770,15 +797,28 @@ fn write_output(
     super::check_width(remaining_width)?;
 
     match alignment {
-        NumberAlignment::Left => write!(writer, "{sign_indicator}{s:<remaining_width$}"),
+        NumberAlignment::Left => {
+            writer.write_all(sign_indicator.as_bytes())?;
+            writer.write_all(s.as_bytes())?;
+            let pad = remaining_width.saturating_sub(s.len());
+            write_spaces(&mut writer, pad)
+        }
         NumberAlignment::RightSpace => {
             let is_sign = sign_indicator.starts_with('-') || sign_indicator.starts_with('+'); // When sign_indicator is in ['-', '+']
             if is_sign && remaining_width > 0 {
                 // Make sure sign_indicator is just next to number, e.g. "% +5.1f" 1 ==> $ +1.0
-                let s = sign_indicator + s.as_str();
-                write!(writer, "{s:>width$}", width = remaining_width + 1) // Since we now add sign_indicator and s together, plus 1
+                // remaining_width already excludes sign_indicator.len(), add 1 for the sign
+                let total_width = remaining_width + 1;
+                let pad = total_width.saturating_sub(sign_indicator.len() + s.len());
+                write_spaces(&mut writer, pad)?;
+                writer.write_all(sign_indicator.as_bytes())?;
+                writer.write_all(s.as_bytes())
             } else {
-                write!(writer, "{sign_indicator}{s:>remaining_width$}")
+                // remaining_width already excludes sign_indicator.len()
+                let pad = remaining_width.saturating_sub(s.len());
+                write_spaces(&mut writer, pad)?;
+                writer.write_all(sign_indicator.as_bytes())?;
+                writer.write_all(s.as_bytes())
             }
         }
         NumberAlignment::RightZero => {
@@ -788,8 +828,14 @@ fn write_output(
             } else {
                 ("", s.as_str())
             };
-            let remaining_width = remaining_width.saturating_sub(prefix.len());
-            write!(writer, "{sign_indicator}{prefix}{rest:0>remaining_width$}")
+            // remaining_width excludes sign_indicator.len(); subtract prefix and rest
+            let pad = remaining_width
+                .saturating_sub(prefix.len())
+                .saturating_sub(rest.len());
+            writer.write_all(sign_indicator.as_bytes())?;
+            writer.write_all(prefix.as_bytes())?;
+            write_zeros(&mut writer, pad)?;
+            writer.write_all(rest.as_bytes())
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs b/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs
index fbdcb47a84..af59e7c66a 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs
@@ -1573,6 +1573,25 @@ fn test_extreme_field_width_overflow() {
         .stderr_contains("printf: write error"); //could contains additional message like "formatting width too large" not in GNU, thats fine.
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_width_65536_does_not_panic() {
+    // Regression test for https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/issues/13850
+    // Widths above u16::MAX (65535) previously panicked because Rust's
+    // write! macro uses u16 internally for formatting width.
+    new_ucmd!().args(&["%65536d", "1"]).succeeds();
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_width_above_u16_max_succeeds() {
+    // Widths above u16::MAX should succeed when output is not a terminal.
+    // The fix uses chunked space writing instead of the write! macro.
+    let result = new_ucmd!().args(&["|%65537d|", "1"]).succeeds();
+    assert!(
+        String::from_utf8_lossy(result.stdout()).contains('1'),
+        "output should contain the formatted value"
+    );
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_asterisk_width_i64_min_no_panic() {
     // Regression test for https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/issues/13766