diff --git a/diff.c b/diff.c
index e1be189742..b7ecfe3b17 100644
--- a/diff.c
+++ b/diff.c
@@ -656,6 +656,12 @@ static void fn_out_consume(void *priv, char *line, unsigned long len)
 	for (i = 0; i < len && line[i] == '@'; i++)
 		;
 	if (2 <= i && i < len && line[i] == ' ') {
+		/* flush --color-words even for --unified=0 */
+		if (ecbdata->diff_words &&
+		    (ecbdata->diff_words->minus.text.size ||
+		     ecbdata->diff_words->plus.text.size))
+			diff_words_show(ecbdata->diff_words);
+
 		ecbdata->nparents = i - 1;
 		len = sane_truncate_line(ecbdata, line, len);
 		emit_line(ecbdata->file,
diff --git a/t/t4034-diff-words.sh b/t/t4034-diff-words.sh
index 82240cf44d..21db6e95c4 100755
--- a/t/t4034-diff-words.sh
+++ b/t/t4034-diff-words.sh
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ cat > expect <<\EOF
 <GREEN>aeff = aeff * ( aaa )<RESET>
 EOF
 
-test_expect_failure 'word diff without context' '
+test_expect_success 'word diff without context' '
 
 	word_diff --color-words --unified=0