diff --git a/lld/Common/ErrorHandler.cpp b/lld/Common/ErrorHandler.cpp
--- a/lld/Common/ErrorHandler.cpp
+++ b/lld/Common/ErrorHandler.cpp
@@ -157,12 +157,16 @@
 
 void ErrorHandler::error(const Twine &msg) {
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(mu);
-  newline(errorOS, msg);
 
   if (errorLimit == 0 || errorCount < errorLimit) {
+    newline(errorOS, msg);
     printHeader("error: ", raw_ostream::RED, msg);
     *errorOS << msg << "\n";
   } else if (errorCount == errorLimit) {
+    // Note: even though we call newline() in both branches, we can't place it
+    // before the conditions. If we did that, we might emit a newlines (without
+    // the error message) after reaching the error limit.
+    newline(errorOS, msg);
     printHeader("error: ", raw_ostream::RED, msg);
     *errorOS << errorLimitExceededMsg << "\n";
     if (exitEarly)