diff --git a/runtime/doc/news.txt b/runtime/doc/news.txt
index 81df75ad6c..4af8dd6716 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/news.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/news.txt
@@ -394,6 +394,8 @@ TUI
   sequence.
 • The TUI now renders the SGR dim (faint), blink, conceal, and overline
   attributes.
+• The TUI will re-query the terminal's background color when resuming from
+  a suspended state, and Nvim will update 'background' accordingly.
 
 UI
 
diff --git a/src/nvim/tui/tui.c b/src/nvim/tui/tui.c
index 1cdcf59fec..8eea4fb5b5 100644
--- a/src/nvim/tui/tui.c
+++ b/src/nvim/tui/tui.c
@@ -337,14 +337,20 @@ static void tui_reset_key_encoding(TUIData *tui)
   }
 }
 
+static void tui_query_bg_color_noflush(TUIData *tui)
+  FUNC_ATTR_NONNULL_ALL
+{
+  out(tui, S_LEN("\x1b]11;?\x07\x1b[5n"));
+}
+
 /// Write the OSC 11 + DSR sequence to the terminal emulator to query the current
-/// background color.
+/// background color, and flush the terminal.
 ///
 /// Response will be handled by the TermResponse handler in _core/defaults.lua.
 void tui_query_bg_color(TUIData *tui)
   FUNC_ATTR_NONNULL_ALL
 {
-  out(tui, S_LEN("\x1b]11;?\x07\x1b[5n"));
+  tui_query_bg_color_noflush(tui);
   flush_buf(tui);
 }
 
@@ -483,6 +489,11 @@ static void terminfo_start(TUIData *tui)
   // Query the terminal to see if it supports Kitty's keyboard protocol
   tui_query_kitty_keyboard(tui);
 
+  // Query the terminal's background color. We normally get it via continuous reporting (set via
+  // `kTermModeThemeUpdates` above), but if we were backgrounded while the light/dark mode changed,
+  // we won't have received the report, so we also query it on resume.
+  tui_query_bg_color_noflush(tui);
+
   int ret;
   uv_loop_init(&tui->write_loop);
   if (tui->out_isatty) {