diff --git a/src/nvim/normal.c b/src/nvim/normal.c
index d0a9d3aca7..c7c112200a 100644
--- a/src/nvim/normal.c
+++ b/src/nvim/normal.c
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ void normal_enter(bool cmdwin, bool noexmode)
   normal_state_init(&state);
   state.cmdwin = cmdwin;
   state.noexmode = noexmode;
-  state.toplevel = !cmdwin && !noexmode;
+  state.toplevel = (!cmdwin || cmdwin_result == 0) && !noexmode;
   state_enter(&state.state);
 }
 
@@ -1360,7 +1360,7 @@ static int normal_check(VimState *state)
   // Dict internally somewhere.
   // "may_garbage_collect" is reset in vgetc() which is invoked through
   // do_exmode() and normal_cmd().
-  may_garbage_collect = s->toplevel;
+  may_garbage_collect = !s->cmdwin && !s->noexmode;
 
   // Update w_curswant if w_set_curswant has been set.
   // Postponed until here to avoid computing w_virtcol too often.
diff --git a/test/functional/normal/count_spec.lua b/test/functional/normal/count_spec.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..700e1f3e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/functional/normal/count_spec.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+local helpers = require('test.functional.helpers')(after_each)
+
+local eq = helpers.eq
+local eval = helpers.eval
+local feed = helpers.feed
+local clear = helpers.clear
+local execute = helpers.execute
+
+describe('v:count/v:count1', function()
+  before_each(function()
+    clear()
+
+    execute('map <silent> _x :<C-u>let g:count = "v:count=". v:count .", v:count1=". v:count1<CR>')
+  end)
+
+  describe('in cmdwin', function()
+    it('equal 0/1 when no count is given', function()
+      feed('q:_x')
+      eq('v:count=0, v:count1=1', eval('g:count'))
+    end)
+
+    it('equal 2/2 when count of 2 is given', function()
+      feed('q:2_x')
+      eq('v:count=2, v:count1=2', eval('g:count'))
+    end)
+  end)
+
+  describe('in normal mode', function()
+    it('equal 0/1 when no count is given', function()
+      feed('_x')
+      eq('v:count=0, v:count1=1', eval('g:count'))
+    end)
+
+    it('equal 2/2 when count of 2 is given', function()
+      feed('2_x')
+      eq('v:count=2, v:count1=2', eval('g:count'))
+    end)
+  end)
+end)