diff --git a/compiler/catala_utils/file.ml b/compiler/catala_utils/file.ml
index 02fbe6f1..f043b3df 100644
--- a/compiler/catala_utils/file.ml
+++ b/compiler/catala_utils/file.ml
@@ -185,21 +185,24 @@ let process_out ?check_exit cmd args =
 let () =
   let default = 80 in
   let get_terminal_cols () =
+    let from_env () =
+      try int_of_string (Sys.getenv "COLUMNS") with Not_found | Failure _ -> 0
+    in
     let count =
-      try
-        (* terminfo *)
-        process_out "tput" ["cols"] |> String.trim |> int_of_string
-      with Failure _ -> (
+      if not Unix.(isatty stdin) then from_env ()
+      else
         try
-          (* stty *)
-          process_out "stty" ["size"]
-          |> String.trim
-          |> fun s ->
-          let i = String.rindex s ' ' + 1 in
-          String.sub s i (String.length s - i) |> int_of_string
-        with Failure _ | Not_found | Invalid_argument _ -> (
-          try int_of_string (Sys.getenv "COLUMNS")
-          with Not_found | Failure _ -> 0))
+          (* terminfo *)
+          process_out "tput" ["cols"] |> String.trim |> int_of_string
+        with Failure _ -> (
+          try
+            (* stty *)
+            process_out "stty" ["size"]
+            |> String.trim
+            |> fun s ->
+            let i = String.rindex s ' ' + 1 in
+            String.sub s i (String.length s - i) |> int_of_string
+          with Failure _ | Not_found | Invalid_argument _ -> from_env ())
     in
     if count > 0 then count else default
   in