diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/rpc.py b/Lib/idlelib/rpc.py
index 0614cf014706..8f611a304d29 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/rpc.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/rpc.py
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ def close(self):
 
     def exithook(self):
         "override for specific exit action"
-        os._exit()
+        os._exit(0)
 
     def debug(self, *args):
         if not self.debugging:
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 997e08548f65..59ec000c700b 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #6649: Fixed missing exit status in IDLE. Patch by Guilherme Polo.
+
 - Issue #17526: fix an IndexError raised while passing code without filename to
   inspect.findsource().  Initial patch by Tyler Doyle.