diff --git a/src/libs/utils/textutils.cpp b/src/libs/utils/textutils.cpp
index bd750d14466..e486ca1b2b9 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/textutils.cpp
+++ b/src/libs/utils/textutils.cpp
@@ -139,10 +139,10 @@ QTextCursor selectAt(QTextCursor textCursor, int line, int column, uint length)
     if (line < 1)
         line = 1;
 
-    if (column < 1)
-        column = 1;
+    if (column < 0)
+        column = 0;
 
-    const int anchorPosition = positionInText(textCursor.document(), line, column);
+    const int anchorPosition = positionInText(textCursor.document(), line, column + 1);
     textCursor.setPosition(anchorPosition);
     textCursor.setPosition(anchorPosition + int(length), QTextCursor::KeepAnchor);
 
diff --git a/src/libs/utils/textutils.h b/src/libs/utils/textutils.h
index 36bd042e444..3394e45054b 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/textutils.h
+++ b/src/libs/utils/textutils.h
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ QTCREATOR_UTILS_EXPORT int positionInText(const QTextDocument *textDocument, int
 
 QTCREATOR_UTILS_EXPORT QString textAt(QTextCursor tc, int pos, int length);
 
+// line is 1-based, column is 0-based
 QTCREATOR_UTILS_EXPORT QTextCursor selectAt(QTextCursor textCursor, int line, int column, uint length);
 
 QTCREATOR_UTILS_EXPORT QTextCursor flippedCursor(const QTextCursor &cursor);
diff --git a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorwidget.cpp b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorwidget.cpp
index a6daf681db5..e8bf8750110 100644
--- a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorwidget.cpp
@@ -816,7 +816,7 @@ QList<QTextEdit::ExtraSelection> sourceLocationsToExtraSelections(
 
         selection.cursor = selectAt(cppEditorWidget->textCursor(),
                                     sourceLocation.targetLine,
-                                    sourceLocation.targetColumn + 1,
+                                    sourceLocation.targetColumn,
                                     selectionLength);
         selection.format = textCharFormat;