diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 721f0d2326d9..f56df356764b 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@ This documents significant changes in the dev branch of ksh 93u+m.
 For full details, see the git log at: https://github.com/ksh93/ksh
 Uppercase BUG_* IDs are shell bug IDs as used by the Modernish shell library.
 
+2024-10-27:
+
+- Fixed a bug that crashed the shell upon attempting to replace the shell
+  with another command using 'exec' after unsetting the SHLVL variable.
+  Bug introduced on 2021-05-18.
+
 2024-10-23:
 
 - Fixed a bug in multidimensional indexed array assignments where unquoted
diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/bltins/misc.c b/src/cmd/ksh93/bltins/misc.c
index cb7e883bf239..1d49162694b7 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/bltins/misc.c
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/bltins/misc.c
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ int    b_exec(int argc,char *argv[], Shbltin_t *context)
 			return 1;
 		/* if the main shell is about to be replaced, decrease SHLVL to cancel out a subsequent increase */
 		if(!sh.realsubshell)
-			(*SHLVL->nvalue.ip)--;
+			sh.shlvl--;
 		sh_onstate(SH_EXEC);
 		if(sh.subshell && !sh.subshare)
 		{
diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/include/shell.h b/src/cmd/ksh93/include/shell.h
index 866b9c7e301b..d613435148b2 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/include/shell.h
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/include/shell.h
@@ -276,6 +276,7 @@ struct Shell_s
 	 * Programs using libshell should not rely on them as they may change. */
 	int		subshell;	/* set for virtual subshell */
 	int		realsubshell;	/* ${.sh.subshell}, actual subshell level (including virtual and forked) */
+	int32_t		shlvl;		/* $SHLVL, non-subshell child shell level */
 	char		shcomp;		/* set when running shcomp */
 	unsigned char	trapnote;	/* set when trap/signal is pending */
 	struct sh_scoped st;		/* scoped information */
diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/include/version.h b/src/cmd/ksh93/include/version.h
index 6d08843079f8..153490f26fe3 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/include/version.h
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/include/version.h
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 #define SH_RELEASE_FORK	"93u+m"		/* only change if you develop a new ksh93 fork */
 #define SH_RELEASE_SVER	"1.1.0-alpha"	/* semantic version number: https://semver.org */
-#define SH_RELEASE_DATE	"2024-10-23"	/* must be in this format for $((.sh.version)) */
+#define SH_RELEASE_DATE	"2024-10-27"	/* must be in this format for $((.sh.version)) */
 #define SH_RELEASE_CPYR	"(c) 2020-2024 Contributors to ksh " SH_RELEASE_FORK
 
 /* Scripts sometimes field-split ${.sh.version}, so don't change amount of whitespace. */
diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/init.c b/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/init.c
index 6dce5b41685c..cb38f0500c00 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/init.c
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/init.c
@@ -221,7 +221,6 @@ static Init_t		*nv_init(void);
 #if SHOPT_STATS
 static void		stat_init(void);
 #endif
-static int		shlvl;
 static int		rand_shift;
 
 /*
@@ -1381,7 +1380,7 @@ Shell_t *sh_init(int argc,char *argv[], Shinit_f userinit)
 		nv_putval(ENVNOD,sfstruse(sh.strbuf),NV_RDONLY);
 	}
 	/* increase SHLVL */
-	shlvl++;
+	sh.shlvl++;
 #if SHOPT_SPAWN
 	{
 		/*
@@ -1695,7 +1694,7 @@ void sh_reinit(void)
 	/* Re-import the environment (re-exported in exscript()) */
 	env_init();
 	/* Increase SHLVL */
-	shlvl++;
+	sh.shlvl++;
 	/* call user init function, if any */
 	if(sh.userinit)
 		(*sh.userinit)(&sh, 1);
@@ -1825,7 +1824,7 @@ static Init_t *nv_init(void)
 	sh.nvfun.last = (char*)&sh;
 	sh.nvfun.nofree = 1;
 	sh.var_base = sh.var_tree = sh_inittree(shtab_variables);
-	SHLVL->nvalue.ip = &shlvl;
+	SHLVL->nvalue.lp = &sh.shlvl;
 	ip->IFS_init.hdr.disc = &IFS_disc;
 	ip->PATH_init.disc = &RESTRICTED_disc;
 	ip->PATH_init.nofree = 1;
diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/tests/variables.sh b/src/cmd/ksh93/tests/variables.sh
index f911292909da..a4e857dbc1d2 100755
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/tests/variables.sh
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/tests/variables.sh
@@ -1677,5 +1677,12 @@ trap 'echo $((foo))' EXIT   # throw the echo $((foo)) 'unset parameter' error tw
 echo $((foo))
 EOF
 
+# ======
+# exec after unset SHLVL
+# https://github.com/ksh93/ksh/issues/788
+{ "$SHELL" -c 'unset SHLVL; exec true'; } 2>/dev/null
+(((e=$?)==0)) || err_exit "crash after unsetting SHLVL" \
+	"(expected status 0, got status $e$( ((e>128)) && print -n /SIG && kill -l "$e"))"
+
 # ======
 exit $((Errors<125?Errors:125))