diff --git a/src/nvim/terminal.c b/src/nvim/terminal.c
index fba8376503..d07e74a966 100644
--- a/src/nvim/terminal.c
+++ b/src/nvim/terminal.c
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ struct terminal {
   VTermTerminator termrequest_terminator;  ///< Terminator (BEL or ST) used in the termrequest
 
   size_t refcount;                  // reference count
+  uint32_t exitmsg_id;
 };
 
 static VTermScreenCallbacks vterm_screen_callbacks = {
@@ -672,10 +673,14 @@ void terminal_close(Terminal **termpp, int status)
 
   bool only_destroy = false;
 
+  buf_T *buf = handle_get_buffer(term->buf_handle);
+
   if (term->closed) {
     // If called from buf_close_terminal() after the process has already exited, we
     // only need to call the close callback to clean up the terminal object.
     only_destroy = true;
+    // Buffer may be reused so delete the "[Process exited]" msg
+    extmark_del_id(buf, (uint32_t)-1, term->exitmsg_id);
   } else {
     // flush any pending changes to the buffer
     if (!exiting) {
@@ -686,8 +691,6 @@ void terminal_close(Terminal **termpp, int status)
     term->closed = true;
   }
 
-  buf_T *buf = handle_get_buffer(term->buf_handle);
-
   if (status == -1 || exiting) {
     // If this was called by buf_close_terminal() (status is -1), or if exiting, we
     // must inform the buffer the terminal no longer exists so that buf_freeall()
@@ -729,7 +732,7 @@ void terminal_close(Terminal **termpp, int status)
 
     int pos = MIN(row_to_linenr(term, term->cursor.row),
                   buf->b_ml.ml_line_count - 1);
-    extmark_set(buf, (uint32_t)-1, NULL, pos, 0, -1, 0,
+    extmark_set(buf, (uint32_t)-1, &term->exitmsg_id, pos, 0, -1, 0,
                 decor, 0, true, false, true, false, NULL);
 
     // Redraw statusline to show the exit code.
diff --git a/test/functional/terminal/buffer_spec.lua b/test/functional/terminal/buffer_spec.lua
index 003a63ec42..40d4dbfaa3 100644
--- a/test/functional/terminal/buffer_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/terminal/buffer_spec.lua
@@ -1313,11 +1313,6 @@ describe(':terminal buffer', function()
         [Process exited 0]                                |
                                                           |*5
       ]])
-      api.nvim_buf_clear_namespace(0, -1, 0, -1)
-      env.screen:expect([[
-        ^ready $                                           |
-                                                          |*6
-      ]])
       env.buf = api.nvim_get_current_buf()
       api.nvim_set_option_value('modified', false, { buf = env.buf })
     end)
@@ -1334,10 +1329,10 @@ describe(':terminal buffer', function()
       local chan = api.nvim_open_term(0, {})
       api.nvim_chan_send(chan, 'TEST')
       fn.chanclose(chan)
-      api.nvim_buf_clear_namespace(0, -1, 0, -1)
       env.screen:expect([[
         ^TEST                                              |
-                                                          |*6
+        [Terminal closed]                                 |
+                                                          |*5
       ]])
       env.buf = api.nvim_get_current_buf()
       api.nvim_set_option_value('modified', false, { buf = env.buf })