diff --git a/src/nvim/lua/executor.c b/src/nvim/lua/executor.c
index 497dfa2761..d154b5896f 100644
--- a/src/nvim/lua/executor.c
+++ b/src/nvim/lua/executor.c
@@ -1493,7 +1493,7 @@ int typval_exec_lua_callable(LuaRef lua_cb, int argcount, typval_T *argvars, typ
   PUSH_ALL_TYPVALS(lstate, argvars, argcount, false);
 
   if (nlua_pcall(lstate, argcount, 1)) {
-    nlua_print(lstate);
+    nlua_error(lstate, _("Lua callback: %.*s"));
     return FCERR_OTHER;
   }
 
diff --git a/test/functional/lua/luaeval_spec.lua b/test/functional/lua/luaeval_spec.lua
index 5fea79141c..dd817ae963 100644
--- a/test/functional/lua/luaeval_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/lua/luaeval_spec.lua
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ local feed = n.feed
 local assert_alive = n.assert_alive
 local NIL = vim.NIL
 local eq = t.eq
+local matches = t.matches
 
 before_each(clear)
 
@@ -266,6 +267,8 @@ describe('luaeval()', function()
 
       return true
     ]])
+    -- v:errmsg is set properly #35554
+    matches(': dead function\n', api.nvim_get_vvar('errmsg'))
   end)
 
   it('should handle passing functions around', function()