diff --git a/src/syntax.c b/src/syntax.c
index 8c23d20..4d42346 100644
--- a/src/syntax.c
+++ b/src/syntax.c
@@ -9440,6 +9440,7 @@
 {
     int	    endcol = 19;
     int	    newline = TRUE;
+    int	    name_col = 0;
 
     if (!did_header)
     {
@@ -9447,6 +9448,7 @@
 	if (got_int)
 	    return TRUE;
 	msg_outtrans(HL_TABLE()[id - 1].sg_name);
+	name_col = msg_col;
 	endcol = 15;
     }
     else if (msg_col + outlen + 1 >= Columns)
@@ -9471,6 +9473,8 @@
     /* Show "xxx" with the attributes. */
     if (!did_header)
     {
+	if (endcol == Columns - 1 && endcol <= name_col)
+	    msg_putchar(' ');
 	msg_puts_attr("xxx", syn_id2attr(id));
 	msg_putchar(' ');
     }
diff --git a/src/testdir/test_highlight.vim b/src/testdir/test_highlight.vim
index 09f8067..f21ebd7 100644
--- a/src/testdir/test_highlight.vim
+++ b/src/testdir/test_highlight.vim
@@ -607,3 +607,11 @@
     call assert_match('hi Normal\s*clear', hlNormal)
   endif
 endfunc
+
+function Test_no_space_before_xxx()
+  let l:org_columns = &columns
+  set columns=17
+  let l:hi_StatusLineTermNC = join(split(execute('hi StatusLineTermNC')))
+  call assert_match('StatusLineTermNC xxx', l:hi_StatusLineTermNC)
+  let &columns = l:org_columns
+endfunction
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index 53c3c66..aa0b8be 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -778,6 +778,8 @@
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
 /**/
+    1606,
+/**/
     1605,
 /**/
     1604,