diff --git a/mod/assign/locallib.php b/mod/assign/locallib.php
index 4d84daffd7d..e3a9b5838af 100644
--- a/mod/assign/locallib.php
+++ b/mod/assign/locallib.php
@@ -3140,13 +3140,14 @@ class assign {
      * Render the content in editor that is often used by plugin.
      *
      * @param string $filearea
-     * @param int  $submissionid
+     * @param int $submissionid
      * @param string $plugintype
      * @param string $editor
      * @param string $component
+     * @param bool $shortentext Whether to shorten the text content.
      * @return string
      */
-    public function render_editor_content($filearea, $submissionid, $plugintype, $editor, $component) {
+    public function render_editor_content($filearea, $submissionid, $plugintype, $editor, $component, $shortentext = false) {
         global $CFG;
 
         $result = '';
@@ -3154,6 +3155,9 @@ class assign {
         $plugin = $this->get_submission_plugin_by_type($plugintype);
 
         $text = $plugin->get_editor_text($editor, $submissionid);
+        if ($shortentext) {
+            $text = shorten_text($text, 140);
+        }
         $format = $plugin->get_editor_format($editor, $submissionid);
 
         $finaltext = file_rewrite_pluginfile_urls($text,
diff --git a/mod/assign/submission/onlinetext/locallib.php b/mod/assign/submission/onlinetext/locallib.php
index 8afd96ffadf..85ea4dc3314 100644
--- a/mod/assign/submission/onlinetext/locallib.php
+++ b/mod/assign/submission/onlinetext/locallib.php
@@ -347,14 +347,18 @@ class assign_submission_onlinetext extends assign_submission_plugin {
         $showviewlink = true;
 
         if ($onlinetextsubmission) {
+            // This contains the shortened version of the text plus an optional 'Export to portfolio' button.
             $text = $this->assignment->render_editor_content(ASSIGNSUBMISSION_ONLINETEXT_FILEAREA,
                                                              $onlinetextsubmission->submission,
                                                              $this->get_type(),
                                                              'onlinetext',
-                                                             'assignsubmission_onlinetext');
+                                                             'assignsubmission_onlinetext', true);
 
+            // The actual submission text.
             $onlinetext = trim($onlinetextsubmission->onlinetext);
-            $shorttext = shorten_text($text, 140);
+            // The shortened version of the submission text.
+            $shorttext = shorten_text($onlinetext, 140);
+
             $plagiarismlinks = '';
 
             if (!empty($CFG->enableplagiarism)) {
@@ -366,12 +370,13 @@ class assign_submission_onlinetext extends assign_submission_plugin {
                     'course' => $this->assignment->get_course()->id,
                     'assignment' => $submission->assignment));
             }
-            if ($text != $shorttext) {
+            // We compare the actual text submission and the shortened version. If they are not equal, we show the word count.
+            if ($onlinetext != $shorttext) {
                 $wordcount = get_string('numwords', 'assignsubmission_onlinetext', count_words($onlinetext));
 
-                return $plagiarismlinks . $wordcount . $shorttext;
+                return $plagiarismlinks . $wordcount . $text;
             } else {
-                return $plagiarismlinks . $shorttext;
+                return $plagiarismlinks . $text;
             }
         }
         return '';