PHP widow buster function - eliminate a single word wrapping to a new line

widow-buster.php

<?php
function widow_buster( $text, $min_words = 3, $max_chars = 16 ) {

	$words = explode( ' ', $text );

	$word_count = count( $words );
	
	$char_length = strlen( $words[ $word_count - 2 ] ) + strlen( $words[ $word_count - 1 ] );

	// if our minimum word count and maximum character count are met,
	// join the last two words with a non-breaking space
	if ( $word_count >= $min_words && $char_length <= $max_chars ) {
		$words[ $word_count - 2 ] .= '&nbsp;' . $words[ $word_count - 1 ];
		array_pop( $words );
		$text = implode( ' ', $words );
	}

	return $text;
}

NB need to abort if $word_count < $min_words before line 8, otherwise $words[ $word_count - 2 ] and $words[ $word_count - 1 ] don't exist, so php throws an error