diff --git a/runtime/doc/options.txt b/runtime/doc/options.txt
index 8f57ac0f0d..be59b69a30 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/options.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/options.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-*options.txt*	For Vim version 9.0.  Last change: 2023 Oct 23
+*options.txt*	For Vim version 9.0.  Last change: 2023 Nov 06
 
 
 		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL	  by Bram Moolenaar
@@ -3494,8 +3494,8 @@ A jump table for the options with a short description can be found at |Q_op|.
 	and the value of that item:
 
 	  item name	default		Used for ~
-	  stl		' ' or '^'	statusline of the current window
-	  stlnc		' ' or '='	statusline of the non-current windows
+	  stl		' '		statusline of the current window
+	  stlnc		' '		statusline of the non-current windows
 	  vert		'|'		vertical separators |:vsplit|
 	  fold		'-'		filling 'foldtext'
 	  foldopen	'-'		mark the beginning of a fold
@@ -3505,15 +3505,11 @@ A jump table for the options with a short description can be found at |Q_op|.
 	  eob		'~'		empty lines below the end of a buffer
 	  lastline	'@'		'display' contains lastline/truncate
 
-	Any one that is omitted will fall back to the default.  For "stl" and
-	"stlnc" the space will be used when there is highlighting, '^' or '='
-	otherwise.
+	Any one that is omitted will fall back to the default.
 
 	Example: >
-	    :set fillchars=stl:^,stlnc:=,vert:\|,fold:-,diff:-
-<	This is similar to the default, except that these characters will also
-	be used when there is highlighting.
-
+	    :set fillchars=stl:\ ,stlnc:\ ,vert:\|,fold:-,diff:-
+<
 	For the "stl", "stlnc", "foldopen", "foldclose" and "foldsep" items
 	single-byte and multibyte characters are supported.  But double-width
 	characters are not supported.
diff --git a/src/screen.c b/src/screen.c
index 3d931ab4e5..fd69cf0b3d 100644
--- a/src/screen.c
+++ b/src/screen.c
@@ -4462,16 +4462,7 @@ fillchar_status(int *attr, win_T *wp)
 	*attr = HL_ATTR(HLF_SNC);
 	fill = wp->w_fill_chars.stlnc;
     }
-    // Use fill when there is highlighting, and highlighting of current
-    // window differs, or the fillchars differ, or this is not the
-    // current window
-    if (*attr != 0 && ((HL_ATTR(HLF_S) != HL_ATTR(HLF_SNC)
-			|| wp != curwin || ONE_WINDOW)
-		    || (wp->w_fill_chars.stl != wp->w_fill_chars.stlnc)))
-	return fill;
-    if (wp == curwin)
-	return '^';
-    return '=';
+    return fill;
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/testdir/dumps/Test_statusline_stl_1.dump b/src/testdir/dumps/Test_statusline_stl_1.dump
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ab1133cea2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/testdir/dumps/Test_statusline_stl_1.dump
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+> +0&#ffffff0@74
+|~+0#4040ff13&| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|[+0#0000000&|N|o| |N|a|m|e|]| @47|0|,|0|-|1| @9|A|l@1
+| @74
+|~+0#4040ff13&| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|~| @73
+|[+0#0000000&|N|o| |N|a|m|e|]| @47|0|,|0|-|1| @9|A|l@1
+| @74
diff --git a/src/testdir/test_statusline.vim b/src/testdir/test_statusline.vim
index 1239e4e4ee..22fd78cdef 100644
--- a/src/testdir/test_statusline.vim
+++ b/src/testdir/test_statusline.vim
@@ -610,4 +610,25 @@ func Test_statusline_showcmd()
   call StopVimInTerminal(buf)
 endfunc
 
+func Test_statusline_highlight_group_cleared()
+  CheckScreendump
+
+  " the laststatus option is there to prevent
+  " the code-style test from complaining about
+  " trailing whitespace
+  let lines =<< trim END
+    set fillchars=stl:\ ,stlnc:\  laststatus=2
+    split
+    hi clear StatusLine
+    hi clear StatusLineNC
+  END
+  call writefile(lines, 'XTest_statusline_stl', 'D')
+
+  let buf = RunVimInTerminal('-S XTest_statusline_stl', {})
+
+  call VerifyScreenDump(buf, 'Test_statusline_stl_1', {})
+
+  call StopVimInTerminal(buf)
+endfunc
+
 " vim: shiftwidth=2 sts=2 expandtab
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index d4fe38f286..1e45be1bee 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -704,6 +704,8 @@ static char *(features[]) =
 
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
+/**/
+    2095,
 /**/
     2094,
 /**/