diff --git a/autoload/sj/sh.vim b/autoload/sj/sh.vim
index 9256cf63..72d9e752 100644
--- a/autoload/sj/sh.vim
+++ b/autoload/sj/sh.vim
@@ -12,6 +12,15 @@ function! sj#sh#SplitBySemicolon()
   return 1
 endfunction
 
+function! sj#sh#SplitWithBackslash()
+  if !search('\S', 'Wc', line('.'))
+    return 0
+  endif
+
+  exe "normal! i\\\<cr>"
+  return 1
+endfunction
+
 function! sj#sh#JoinWithSemicolon()
   if !nextnonblank(line('.') + 1)
     return 0
@@ -20,3 +29,12 @@ function! sj#sh#JoinWithSemicolon()
   call sj#Keeppatterns('s/;\=\s*\n\_s*/; /e')
   return 1
 endfunction
+
+function! sj#sh#JoinBackslashedLine()
+  if getline('.') !~ '\\\s*$'
+    return 0
+  endif
+
+  call sj#Keeppatterns('s/\\\=\s*\n\_s*//e')
+  return 1
+endfunction
diff --git a/doc/splitjoin.txt b/doc/splitjoin.txt
index b55c4edc..a4b3cd37 100644
--- a/doc/splitjoin.txt
+++ b/doc/splitjoin.txt
@@ -1293,6 +1293,17 @@ for the `sh` and `zsh` filetypes.
     echo "one"
     echo "two"
 <
+If the line is not made up of semicolon-separated commands, it gets broken up
+with a backslash at the cursor position, for example with the cursor on the
+pipe:
+>
+    echo "one" | wc -c
+
+    echo "one" \
+        | wc -l
+<
+If there is a broken line like that, joining should always join it first,
+before trying anything else.
 
 ==============================================================================
 TEX                                                              *splitjoin-tex*
diff --git a/ftplugin/sh/splitjoin.vim b/ftplugin/sh/splitjoin.vim
index 053ed1a7..1a1394da 100644
--- a/ftplugin/sh/splitjoin.vim
+++ b/ftplugin/sh/splitjoin.vim
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 let b:splitjoin_split_callbacks = [
       \ 'sj#sh#SplitBySemicolon',
+      \ 'sj#sh#SplitWithBackslash',
       \ ]
 
 let b:splitjoin_join_callbacks = [
+      \ 'sj#sh#JoinBackslashedLine',
       \ 'sj#sh#JoinWithSemicolon',
       \ ]
diff --git a/spec/plugin/sh_spec.rb b/spec/plugin/sh_spec.rb
index 88ac7939..9db32e86 100644
--- a/spec/plugin/sh_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/plugin/sh_spec.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,12 @@
 describe "sh" do
   let(:filename) { 'test.sh' }
 
-  describe "splitjoining by semicolon" do
+  before :each do
+    vim.set(:expandtab)
+    vim.set(:shiftwidth, 2)
+  end
+
+  describe "by semicolon" do
     specify "simple case" do
       set_file_contents <<~EOF
         echo "one"; echo "two"
@@ -51,5 +56,46 @@
       EOF
     end
   end
-end
 
+  describe "with backslash" do
+    specify "simple case" do
+      set_file_contents <<~EOF
+        echo "one" | wc -c
+      EOF
+
+      vim.search('|')
+      split
+
+      assert_file_contents <<~EOF
+        echo "one" \\
+          | wc -c
+      EOF
+
+      join
+
+      assert_file_contents <<~EOF
+        echo "one" | wc -c
+      EOF
+    end
+
+    specify "between words, finds closest non-whitespace forward" do
+      set_file_contents <<~EOF
+        echo "one" | wc -c
+      EOF
+
+      vim.search(' w')
+      split
+
+      assert_file_contents <<~EOF
+        echo "one" | \\
+          wc -c
+      EOF
+
+      join
+
+      assert_file_contents <<~EOF
+        echo "one" | wc -c
+      EOF
+    end
+  end
+end