diff --git a/code/FBXTokenizer.cpp b/code/FBXTokenizer.cpp
index 8dc49b023..bbe0403e6 100644
--- a/code/FBXTokenizer.cpp
+++ b/code/FBXTokenizer.cpp
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
 #ifndef ASSIMP_BUILD_NO_FBX_IMPORTER
 
+// tab width for logging columns
+#define ASSIMP_FBX_TAB_WIDTH 4
+
 #include "ParsingUtils.h"
 
 #include "FBXTokenizer.h"
@@ -137,7 +140,7 @@ void Tokenize(TokenList& output_tokens, const char* input)
 	bool pending_data_token = false;
 	
 	const char* token_begin = NULL, *token_end = NULL;
-	for (const char* cur = input;*cur;++cur,++column) {
+	for (const char* cur = input;*cur;column += (*cur == '\t' ? ASSIMP_FBX_TAB_WIDTH : 1), ++cur) {
 		const char c = *cur;
 
 		if (IsLineEnd(c)) {