diff --git a/draftlogs/7908_fix.md b/draftlogs/7908_fix.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..955c79cea16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/draftlogs/7908_fix.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ - Fix crash ("Something went wrong with axis scaling") when a colorbar's title or padding leaves it with a negative domain length [[#7908](https://github.com/plotly/plotly.js/pull/7908)]
diff --git a/src/components/colorbar/draw.js b/src/components/colorbar/draw.js
index 3fe5a5e9ce3..5fbf919d3ae 100644
--- a/src/components/colorbar/draw.js
+++ b/src/components/colorbar/draw.js
@@ -167,6 +167,12 @@ function makeColorBarData(gd) {
     return out;
 }
 
+// Move domain[0] toward domain[1] by delta, without crossing it
+const insetDomainStart = (domain, delta) => [Math.min(domain[0] + delta, domain[1]), domain[1]];
+
+// Move domain[1] toward domain[0] by delta, without crossing it
+const insetDomainEnd = (domain, delta) => [domain[0], Math.max(domain[1] - delta, domain[0])];
+
 function drawColorBar(g, opts, gd) {
     var isVertical = opts.orientation === 'v';
     var len = opts.len;
@@ -300,13 +306,8 @@ function drawColorBar(g, opts, gd) {
 
     // set domain after init, because we may want to
     // allow it outside [0,1]
-    ax.domain = isVertical ? [
-        vFrac + ypad / gs.h,
-        vFrac + lenFrac - ypad / gs.h
-    ] : [
-        vFrac + xpad / gs.w,
-        vFrac + lenFrac - xpad / gs.w
-    ];
+    var padFrac = isVertical ? ypad / gs.h : xpad / gs.w;
+    ax.domain = insetDomainEnd(insetDomainStart([vFrac, vFrac + lenFrac], padFrac), padFrac);
 
     ax.setScale();
 
@@ -473,10 +474,10 @@ function drawColorBar(g, opts, gd) {
                     titleHeight += 5;
 
                     if(titleSide === 'top') {
-                        ax.domain[1] -= titleHeight / gs.h;
+                        ax.domain = insetDomainEnd(ax.domain, titleHeight / gs.h);
                         titleTrans[1] *= -1;
                     } else {
-                        ax.domain[0] += titleHeight / gs.h;
+                        ax.domain = insetDomainStart(ax.domain, titleHeight / gs.h);
                         var nlines = svgTextUtils.lineCount(titleText);
                         titleTrans[1] += (1 - nlines) * lineSize;
                     }
@@ -487,7 +488,7 @@ function drawColorBar(g, opts, gd) {
             } else { // horizontal colorbars
                 if(titleWidth) {
                     if(titleSide === 'right') {
-                        ax.domain[0] += (titleWidth + titleFontSize / 2) / gs.w;
+                        ax.domain = insetDomainStart(ax.domain, (titleWidth + titleFontSize / 2) / gs.w);
                     }
 
                     titleGroup.attr('transform', strTranslate(titleTrans[0], titleTrans[1]));
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/colorbar_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/colorbar_test.js
index 99fa90e5e5b..1785f8cb21c 100644
--- a/test/jasmine/tests/colorbar_test.js
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/colorbar_test.js
@@ -95,6 +95,76 @@ describe('Test colorbar:', function() {
             .then(done, done.fail);
         });
 
+        // see https://github.com/plotly/plotly.js/issues/6499
+        it('does not throw when the colorbar is too short for its own length/padding', function(done) {
+            Plotly.newPlot(gd, [{
+                type: 'scatter',
+                mode: 'markers',
+                x: [1, 2, 3],
+                y: [1, 2, 3],
+                marker: {
+                    color: [1, 2, 3],
+                    colorbar: {len: 0.01, thickness: 30}
+                }
+            }], {width: 300, height: 120})
+            .then(done, done.fail);
+        });
+
+        it('does not throw when a top-side colorbar title is taller than the colorbar', function(done) {
+            Plotly.newPlot(gd, [{
+                type: 'scatter',
+                mode: 'markers',
+                x: [1, 2, 3],
+                y: [1, 2, 3],
+                marker: {
+                    color: [1, 2, 3],
+                    colorbar: {
+                        title: {text: 'Long title', side: 'top', font: {size: 60}},
+                        len: 0.3,
+                        thickness: 30
+                    }
+                }
+            }], {width: 300, height: 120})
+            .then(done, done.fail);
+        });
+
+        it('does not throw when a bottom-side colorbar title is taller than the colorbar', function(done) {
+            Plotly.newPlot(gd, [{
+                type: 'scatter',
+                mode: 'markers',
+                x: [1, 2, 3],
+                y: [1, 2, 3],
+                marker: {
+                    color: [1, 2, 3],
+                    colorbar: {
+                        title: {text: 'Long title', side: 'bottom', font: {size: 60}},
+                        len: 0.3,
+                        thickness: 30
+                    }
+                }
+            }], {width: 300, height: 120})
+            .then(done, done.fail);
+        });
+
+        it('does not throw when a right-side horizontal colorbar title is wider than the colorbar', function(done) {
+            Plotly.newPlot(gd, [{
+                type: 'scatter',
+                mode: 'markers',
+                x: [1, 2, 3],
+                y: [1, 2, 3],
+                marker: {
+                    color: [1, 2, 3],
+                    colorbar: {
+                        orientation: 'h',
+                        title: {text: 'Long title', side: 'right', font: {size: 60}},
+                        len: 0.3,
+                        thickness: 30
+                    }
+                }
+            }], {width: 300, height: 120})
+            .then(done, done.fail);
+        });
+
         function assertCB(msg, present, opts) {
             var expandedMarginR = opts.expandedMarginR;
             var expandedMarginT = opts.expandedMarginT;