diff --git a/mux/src/activity.rs b/mux/src/activity.rs
index 504d17240..2760a9e9a 100644
--- a/mux/src/activity.rs
+++ b/mux/src/activity.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 //! Keeps track of the number of user-initiated activities
+use crate::Mux;
 use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering};
 
 static COUNT: AtomicUsize = AtomicUsize::new(0);
@@ -25,5 +26,11 @@ impl Activity {
 impl Drop for Activity {
     fn drop(&mut self) {
         COUNT.fetch_sub(1, Ordering::SeqCst);
+
+        promise::spawn::spawn_into_main_thread(async move {
+            let mux = Mux::get().unwrap();
+            mux.prune_dead_windows();
+        })
+        .detach();
     }
 }
diff --git a/mux/src/lib.rs b/mux/src/lib.rs
index 78337b234..b1fa03a85 100644
--- a/mux/src/lib.rs
+++ b/mux/src/lib.rs
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ pub enum MuxNotification {
         pane_id: PaneId,
         alert: wezterm_term::Alert,
     },
+    Empty,
 }
 
 static SUB_ID: AtomicUsize = AtomicUsize::new(0);
@@ -184,6 +185,11 @@ fn read_from_pane_pty(pane_id: PaneId, banner: Option<String>, mut reader: Box<d
             // We don't know if we can unilaterally close
             // this pane right now, so don't!
             state.write(b"\n[Process completed]");
+            promise::spawn::spawn_into_main_thread(async move {
+                let mux = Mux::get().unwrap();
+                mux.prune_dead_windows();
+            })
+            .detach();
         }
         ExitBehavior::Close => {
             promise::spawn::spawn_into_main_thread(async move {
@@ -454,6 +460,10 @@ impl Mux {
             log::trace!("window {} is dead", window_id);
             self.remove_window_internal(window_id);
         }
+
+        if self.is_empty() {
+            self.notify(MuxNotification::Empty);
+        }
     }
 
     pub fn kill_window(&self, window_id: WindowId) {
diff --git a/wezterm-gui/src/frontend.rs b/wezterm-gui/src/frontend.rs
index 1cfe708c0..6fc0aef55 100644
--- a/wezterm-gui/src/frontend.rs
+++ b/wezterm-gui/src/frontend.rs
@@ -66,6 +66,12 @@ impl GuiFrontEnd {
                         pane_id: _,
                         alert: Alert::TitleMaybeChanged,
                     } => {}
+                    MuxNotification::Empty => {
+                        if mux::activity::Activity::count() == 0 {
+                            log::trace!("Mux is now empty, terminate gui");
+                            Connection::get().unwrap().terminate_message_loop();
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
                 true
             } else {
@@ -76,17 +82,6 @@ impl GuiFrontEnd {
     }
 
     pub fn run_forever(&self) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-        self.connection
-            .schedule_timer(std::time::Duration::from_millis(200), move || {
-                if mux::activity::Activity::count() == 0 {
-                    let mux = Mux::get().unwrap();
-                    mux.prune_dead_windows();
-                    if mux.is_empty() {
-                        Connection::get().unwrap().terminate_message_loop();
-                    }
-                }
-            });
-
         self.connection.run_message_loop()
     }
 }
diff --git a/wezterm-mux-server-impl/src/dispatch.rs b/wezterm-mux-server-impl/src/dispatch.rs
index 15aad8b9f..7d8ed5433 100644
--- a/wezterm-mux-server-impl/src/dispatch.rs
+++ b/wezterm-mux-server-impl/src/dispatch.rs
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ where
                 handler.schedule_pane_push(pane_id);
             }
             Ok(Item::Notif(MuxNotification::WindowCreated(_window_id))) => {}
+            Ok(Item::Notif(MuxNotification::Empty)) => {}
             Err(err) => {
                 log::error!("process_async Err {}", err);
                 return Ok(());