diff --git a/src/nvim/drawline.c b/src/nvim/drawline.c
index 4348789cb2..0c9c874477 100644
--- a/src/nvim/drawline.c
+++ b/src/nvim/drawline.c
@@ -2924,7 +2924,25 @@ int win_line(win_T *wp, linenr_T lnum, int startrow, int endrow, int col_rows, b
 
     if (wlv.filler_todo <= 0) {
       // Apply lowest-priority line attr now, so everything can override it.
-      wlv.char_attr = hl_combine_attr(wlv.line_attr_lowprio, wlv.char_attr);
+      int low = wlv.line_attr_lowprio;
+      int high = wlv.char_attr;
+
+      if (wlv.line_attr_lowprio != 0) {
+        HlAttrs line_ae = syn_attr2entry(wlv.line_attr_lowprio);
+        HlAttrs char_ae = syn_attr2entry(wlv.char_attr);
+        // If line has background (CursorLine) and char's background equals Normal's background,
+        // reverse the combination order to let CursorLine override normal_bg.
+        bool has_line_bg = line_ae.rgb_bg_color >= 0 || line_ae.cterm_bg_color > 0;
+        bool char_is_normal_bg = ui_rgb_attached()
+                                 ? (char_ae.rgb_bg_color == normal_bg)
+                                 : (char_ae.cterm_bg_color == cterm_normal_bg_color);
+
+        if (has_line_bg && char_is_normal_bg) {
+          low = wlv.char_attr;
+          high = wlv.line_attr_lowprio;
+        }
+      }
+      wlv.char_attr = hl_combine_attr(low, high);
     }
 
     if (wlv.filler_todo <= 0) {
diff --git a/test/functional/ui/highlight_spec.lua b/test/functional/ui/highlight_spec.lua
index af9add727a..9780885028 100644
--- a/test/functional/ui/highlight_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/ui/highlight_spec.lua
@@ -1378,6 +1378,23 @@ describe('CursorLine and CursorLineNr highlights', function()
                                                         |
     ]])
   end)
+
+  it('CursorLine overlays hl group linked to Normal', function()
+    local screen = Screen.new(50, 12)
+    screen:add_extra_attr_ids({
+      [101] = { background = Screen.colors.Grey90, foreground = Screen.colors.Gray100 },
+    })
+    command('hi Normal guibg=black guifg=white')
+    command('hi def link Test Normal')
+    feed('ifoo bar<ESC>')
+    feed(':call matchadd("Test", "bar")<cr>')
+    command('set cursorline')
+    screen:expect([[
+      {21:foo }{101:ba^r}{21:                                           }|
+      {1:~                                                 }|*10
+      :call matchadd("Test", "bar")                     |
+    ]])
+  end)
 end)
 
 describe('CursorColumn highlight', function()