diff --git a/pdfbox/src/main/java/org/apache/pdfbox/rendering/PageDrawer.java b/pdfbox/src/main/java/org/apache/pdfbox/rendering/PageDrawer.java
index 1653e46a1e9..6d747c72663 100644
--- a/pdfbox/src/main/java/org/apache/pdfbox/rendering/PageDrawer.java
+++ b/pdfbox/src/main/java/org/apache/pdfbox/rendering/PageDrawer.java
@@ -728,6 +728,7 @@ private Stroke getStroke()
             LOG.warn("Miter limit must be >= 1, value " + miterLimit + " is ignored");
             miterLimit = 10;
         }
+        phaseStart = Math.max(phaseStart, Short.MAX_VALUE); // PDFBOX-5653
         return new BasicStroke(lineWidth, lineCap, lineJoin,
                                miterLimit, dashArray, phaseStart);
     }