diff --git a/src/nvim/message.c b/src/nvim/message.c
index f48bad2425..ff384b3d7a 100644
--- a/src/nvim/message.c
+++ b/src/nvim/message.c
@@ -1724,7 +1724,11 @@ void msg_start(void)
     msg_row = cmdline_row;
     msg_col = 0;
   } else if ((msg_didout || p_ch == 0) && !ui_has(kUIMessages)) {  // start message on next line
-    msg_putchar('\n');
+    if (p_ch == 0 && !msg_didout && msg_use_printf()) {
+      msg_puts_display("\n", 1, 0, false);
+    } else {
+      msg_putchar('\n');
+    }
     did_return = true;
     cmdline_row = msg_row;
   }
diff --git a/test/functional/ui/cmdline_spec.lua b/test/functional/ui/cmdline_spec.lua
index 0a9d3e948d..fca5c968dd 100644
--- a/test/functional/ui/cmdline_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/ui/cmdline_spec.lua
@@ -1700,4 +1700,11 @@ describe('cmdheight=0', function()
       {3:[No Name]                }|
     ]])
   end)
+
+  it('no spurious newline before first message in headless mode', function()
+    local p = n.spawn_wait({
+      args = { '--cmd', 'set cmdheight=0', '-c', 'echo 1', '+q' },
+    })
+    eq('1', p.stderr)
+  end)
 end)