diff --git a/Lib/pdb.py b/Lib/pdb.py
index 23bc6dfa16b..d379d1a9abd 100755
--- a/Lib/pdb.py
+++ b/Lib/pdb.py
@@ -1211,7 +1211,7 @@ see no sign that the breakpoint was reached.
         self.mainpyfile = self.canonic(filename)
         self._user_requested_quit = 0
         with open(filename) as fp:
-            statement = fp.read()
+            statement = "exec(%r)" % (fp.read(),)
         self.run(statement)
 
 # Simplified interface
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index b37f18e26f6..e650b33b800 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ C-API
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #6323: The pdb debugger did not exit when running a script with a
+  syntax error.
+
 - Issue #6369: Fix an RLE decompression bug in the binhex module.
 
 - Issue #6344: Fixed a crash of mmap.read() when passed a negative argument.