diff --git a/src/Surface.zig b/src/Surface.zig
index 9b278ac62..d8d6c3967 100644
--- a/src/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/Surface.zig
@@ -104,6 +104,25 @@ config: DerivedConfig,
 /// This is used to determine if we need to confirm, hold open, etc.
 child_exited: bool = false,
 
+/// The effect of an input event. This can be used by callers to take
+/// the appropriate action after an input event. For example, key
+/// input can be forwarded to the OS for further processing if it
+/// wasn't handled in any way by Ghostty.
+pub const InputEffect = enum {
+    /// The input was not handled in any way by Ghostty and should be
+    /// forwarded to other subsystems (i.e. the OS) for further
+    /// processing.
+    ignored,
+
+    /// The input was handled and consumed by Ghostty.
+    consumed,
+
+    /// The input resulted in a close event for this surface so
+    /// the surface, runtime surface, etc. pointers may all be
+    /// unsafe to use so exit immediately.
+    closed,
+};
+
 /// Mouse state for the surface.
 const Mouse = struct {
     /// The last tracked mouse button state by button.
@@ -1143,7 +1162,7 @@ pub fn preeditCallback(self: *Surface, preedit_: ?[]const u8) !void {
 pub fn keyCallback(
     self: *Surface,
     event: input.KeyEvent,
-) !bool {
+) !InputEffect {
     // log.debug("text keyCallback event={}", .{event});
 
     // Setup our inspector event if we have an inspector.
@@ -1207,13 +1226,21 @@ pub fn keyCallback(
             break :press try self.performBindingAction(binding_action);
         } else false;
 
+        // If we performed an action and it was a closing action,
+        // our "self" pointer is not safe to use anymore so we need to
+        // just exit immediately.
+        if (performed and closingAction(binding_action)) {
+            log.debug("key binding is a closing binding, halting key event processing", .{});
+            return .closed;
+        }
+
         // If we consume this event, then we are done. If we don't consume
         // it, we processed the action but we still want to process our
         // encodings, too.
         if (consumed and performed) {
             self.last_binding_trigger = binding_trigger.hash();
             if (insp_ev) |*ev| ev.binding = binding_action;
-            return true;
+            return .consumed;
         }
 
         // If we have a previous binding trigger and it matches this one,
@@ -1222,7 +1249,7 @@ pub fn keyCallback(
         if (self.last_binding_trigger > 0 and
             self.last_binding_trigger == binding_trigger.hash())
         {
-            return true;
+            return .consumed;
         }
     }
 
@@ -1230,7 +1257,7 @@ pub fn keyCallback(
     if (self.config.vt_kam_allowed) {
         self.renderer_state.mutex.lock();
         defer self.renderer_state.mutex.unlock();
-        if (self.io.terminal.modes.get(.disable_keyboard)) return true;
+        if (self.io.terminal.modes.get(.disable_keyboard)) return .consumed;
     }
 
     // If this input event has text, then we hide the mouse if configured.
@@ -1297,7 +1324,7 @@ pub fn keyCallback(
 
     var data: termio.Message.WriteReq.Small.Array = undefined;
     const seq = try enc.encode(&data);
-    if (seq.len == 0) return false;
+    if (seq.len == 0) return .ignored;
 
     _ = self.io_thread.mailbox.push(.{
         .write_small = .{
@@ -1324,7 +1351,7 @@ pub fn keyCallback(
         try self.queueRender();
     }
 
-    return true;
+    return .consumed;
 }
 
 /// Sends text as-is to the terminal without triggering any keyboard
@@ -2828,6 +2855,19 @@ pub fn performBindingAction(self: *Surface, action: input.Binding.Action) !bool
     return true;
 }
 
+/// Returns true if performing the given action result in closing
+/// the surface. This is used to determine if our self pointer is
+/// still valid after performing some binding action.
+fn closingAction(action: input.Binding.Action) bool {
+    return switch (action) {
+        .close_surface,
+        .close_window,
+        => true,
+
+        else => false,
+    };
+}
+
 /// Call this to complete a clipboard request sent to apprt. This should
 /// only be called once for each request. The data is immediately copied so
 /// it is safe to free the data after this call.
diff --git a/src/apprt/embedded.zig b/src/apprt/embedded.zig
index da74de9bb..fbeccfe86 100644
--- a/src/apprt/embedded.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/embedded.zig
@@ -794,7 +794,7 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
         } else .invalid;
 
         // Invoke the core Ghostty logic to handle this input.
-        const consumed = self.core_surface.keyCallback(.{
+        const effect = self.core_surface.keyCallback(.{
             .action = action,
             .key = key,
             .physical_key = physical_key,
@@ -808,11 +808,15 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
             return;
         };
 
-        // If we consume the key then we want to reset the dead key state.
-        if (consumed and is_down) {
-            self.keymap_state = .{};
-            self.core_surface.preeditCallback(null) catch {};
-            return;
+        switch (effect) {
+            .closed => return,
+            .ignored => {},
+            .consumed => if (is_down) {
+                // If we consume the key then we want to reset the dead
+                // key state.
+                self.keymap_state = .{};
+                self.core_surface.preeditCallback(null) catch {};
+            },
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/apprt/glfw.zig b/src/apprt/glfw.zig
index c75e5a3ee..809ed6c32 100644
--- a/src/apprt/glfw.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/glfw.zig
@@ -928,16 +928,21 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
             .utf8 = "",
         };
 
-        const consumed = core_win.keyCallback(key_event) catch |err| {
+        const effect = core_win.keyCallback(key_event) catch |err| {
             log.err("error in key callback err={}", .{err});
             return;
         };
 
+        // Surface closed.
+        if (effect == .closed) return;
+
         // If it wasn't consumed, we set it on our self so that charcallback
         // can make another attempt. Otherwise, we set null so the charcallback
         // is ignored.
         core_win.rt_surface.key_event = null;
-        if (!consumed and (action == .press or action == .repeat)) {
+        if (effect == .ignored and
+            (action == .press or action == .repeat))
+        {
             core_win.rt_surface.key_event = key_event;
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
index 5535c380d..5560b0c13 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
@@ -1394,7 +1394,7 @@ fn keyEvent(
     }
 
     // Invoke the core Ghostty logic to handle this input.
-    const consumed = self.core_surface.keyCallback(.{
+    const effect = self.core_surface.keyCallback(.{
         .action = action,
         .key = key,
         .physical_key = physical_key,
@@ -1408,11 +1408,16 @@ fn keyEvent(
         return false;
     };
 
-    // If we consume the key then we want to reset the dead key state.
-    if (consumed and (action == .press or action == .repeat)) {
-        c.gtk_im_context_reset(self.im_context);
-        self.core_surface.preeditCallback(null) catch {};
-        return true;
+    switch (effect) {
+        .closed => return true,
+        .ignored => {},
+        .consumed => if (action == .press or action == .repeat) {
+            // If we consume the key then we want to reset the dead key
+            // state.
+            c.gtk_im_context_reset(self.im_context);
+            self.core_surface.preeditCallback(null) catch {};
+            return true;
+        },
     }
 
     return false;