diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
index 79e5287e86..e31339e163 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
@@ -1,16 +1,17 @@
 require "pathname"
 require "emoji"
 require "exceptions"
-require "utils/formatter"
-require "utils/hash"
-require "utils/json"
-require "utils/inreplace"
-require "utils/popen"
-require "utils/fork"
-require "utils/git"
 require "utils/analytics"
-require "utils/github"
 require "utils/curl"
+require "utils/fork"
+require "utils/formatter"
+require "utils/git"
+require "utils/github"
+require "utils/hash"
+require "utils/inreplace"
+require "utils/json"
+require "utils/popen"
+require "utils/puts_columns"
 require "utils/tty"
 
 def ohai(title, *sput)
@@ -286,43 +287,6 @@ def quiet_system(cmd, *args)
   end
 end
 
-def puts_columns(items)
-  return if items.empty?
-
-  unless $stdout.tty?
-    puts items
-    return
-  end
-
-  # TTY case: If possible, output using multiple columns.
-  console_width = Tty.width
-  console_width = 80 if console_width <= 0
-  plain_item_lengths = items.map { |s| Tty.strip_ansi(s).length }
-  max_len = plain_item_lengths.max
-  col_gap = 2 # number of spaces between columns
-  gap_str = " " * col_gap
-  cols = (console_width + col_gap) / (max_len + col_gap)
-  cols = 1 if cols < 1
-  rows = (items.size + cols - 1) / cols
-  cols = (items.size + rows - 1) / rows # avoid empty trailing columns
-
-  if cols >= 2
-    col_width = (console_width + col_gap) / cols - col_gap
-    items = items.each_with_index.map do |item, index|
-      item + "".ljust(col_width - plain_item_lengths[index])
-    end
-  end
-
-  if cols == 1
-    puts items
-  else
-    rows.times do |row_index|
-      item_indices_for_row = row_index.step(items.size - 1, rows).to_a
-      puts items.values_at(*item_indices_for_row).join(gap_str)
-    end
-  end
-end
-
 def which(cmd, path = ENV["PATH"])
   path.split(File::PATH_SEPARATOR).each do |p|
     begin
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils/puts_columns.rb b/Library/Homebrew/utils/puts_columns.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..94a5354ad4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils/puts_columns.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+require "utils/tty"
+
+class IO
+  def puts_columns(*objects, gap_size: 2)
+    objects.flatten!
+
+    if objects.empty? || !tty?
+      puts(*objects)
+      return
+    end
+
+    console_width = Tty.width
+
+    object_lengths = objects.map { |obj| Tty.strip_ansi(obj.to_s).length }
+
+    cols = (console_width + gap_size) / (object_lengths.max + gap_size)
+
+    if cols < 2
+      puts(*objects)
+      return
+    end
+
+    rows = (objects.count + cols - 1) / cols
+    cols = (objects.count + rows - 1) / rows # avoid empty trailing columns
+
+    col_width = (console_width + gap_size) / cols - gap_size
+
+    gap_string = "".rjust(gap_size)
+
+    rows.times do |row_index|
+      item_indices_for_row = row_index.step(objects.size - 1, rows).to_a
+
+      first_n = item_indices_for_row[0...-1].map { |index|
+        objects[index] + "".rjust(col_width - object_lengths[index])
+      }
+
+      # don't add trailing whitespace to last column
+      last = objects.values_at(item_indices_for_row.last)
+
+      puts (first_n + last).join(gap_string)
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+module Kernel
+  def puts_columns(*objects)
+    $stdout.puts_columns(*objects)
+  end
+end