diff --git a/src/screen.c b/src/screen.c
index 09aa10f..e218196 100644
--- a/src/screen.c
+++ b/src/screen.c
@@ -1718,6 +1718,7 @@
 {
     if (p_hls && !no_hlsearch)
     {
+	end_search_hl();  // just in case it wasn't called before
 	last_pat_prog(&screen_search_hl.rm);
 	screen_search_hl.attr = HL_ATTR(HLF_L);
 # ifdef FEAT_RELTIME