diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4c8d1ff..ec54907 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+## Unreleased
+- Added `SSHClient.disconnect`, which sends `SSH_MSG_DISCONNECT` (BY_APPLICATION) before closing the socket, so the peer sees a protocol-level disconnect instead of inferring the teardown from TCP alone. RFC 4253 §11.1 says implementations SHOULD send this message, and OpenSSH logs a `BY_APPLICATION` teardown as info rather than an error-level connection loss, so a deliberate client-side close stops showing up on the server as an unexplained drop. `close()` is unchanged and remains the right call on error paths [#250].
+
 ## [4.1.0] - 2026-09-04
 - Added `SSHClient.pipelineChannelRequests`, off by default, which sends all of a session's channel requests before reading any reply instead of waiting for each one in turn. `execute` and `shell` send `env`, agent forwarding, `pty-req` and `x11-req` ahead of `exec` or `shell`, and each of them cost a round trip: against a server 40 ms away, `execute` with a pty measured 246 ms before and 206 ms after. RFC 4254 §5.4 permits sending further messages without waiting and §4 requires the peer to answer a channel's requests in the order it received them, which is what `ssh(1)` relies on when it does the same thing. Setting it also adopts OpenSSH's reporting, because it has to: the command is on the wire before a refusal can come back, so a refused `pty-req`, `env`, agent forwarding or `x11-req` is reported through `printDebug` and the command runs, the way `ssh(1)` prints `PTY allocation request failed on channel 0` and carries on, rather than throwing an error that means the command has already run. Only a refused `exec` or `shell` still throws `SSHChannelRequestError`, because nothing has run when that one fails. Leaving it unset changes nothing, down to the order the requests go out and the message of every error [#243].
 - Added a `dartssh2-nopty` account to the interop server, which `PermitTTY no` applies to, so both sides of a refused `pty-req` are exercised against a real OpenSSH: by default the command does not run, and with pipelining it does [#243].
diff --git a/lib/src/ssh_client.dart b/lib/src/ssh_client.dart
index bd344b4..fd755db 100644
--- a/lib/src/ssh_client.dart
+++ b/lib/src/ssh_client.dart
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import 'package:dartssh2/src/utils/auth_methods.dart';
 import 'package:dartssh2/src/utils/pending_requests.dart';
 import 'package:dartssh2/src/utils/terminal_state.dart';
 import 'package:dartssh2/src/message/msg_channel.dart';
+import 'package:dartssh2/src/message/msg_disconnect.dart';
 import 'package:dartssh2/src/message/msg_request.dart';
 import 'package:dartssh2/src/message/msg_service.dart';
 import 'package:dartssh2/src/message/msg_userauth.dart';
@@ -902,6 +903,33 @@ class SSHClient {
     await _transport.close();
   }
 
+  /// Sends `SSH_MSG_DISCONNECT` (BY_APPLICATION) and then closes, so the peer
+  /// sees a protocol-level disconnect instead of inferring the teardown from
+  /// TCP alone.
+  ///
+  /// Prefer this over [close] when the connection is ending by deliberate
+  /// client choice (user closes the tab, app shuts down) rather than by
+  /// failure: RFC 4253 §11.1 asks for this message, and OpenSSH logs the
+  /// teardown as info (`BY_APPLICATION`) instead of an error-level connection
+  /// loss. [close] remains appropriate for error paths, where tearing the
+  /// socket down without a farewell is fine.
+  ///
+  /// Fire-and-forget safe: a transport that already died falls through to
+  /// [close].
+  Future<void> disconnect() async {
+    try {
+      if (!_transport.isClosed) {
+        _sendMessage(
+          SSH_Message_Disconnect.fromReason(SSHDisconnectReason.byApplication),
+        );
+        await _transport.flush();
+      }
+    } on Exception {
+      // The transport may already be tearing down; the close below is enough.
+    }
+    await close();
+  }
+
   /// Force flush any buffered outgoing data to the socket.
   Future<void> flush() async {
     await _transport.flush();
diff --git a/test/src/ssh_client_disconnect_test.dart b/test/src/ssh_client_disconnect_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4fb7d47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/src/ssh_client_disconnect_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+import 'dart:async';
+import 'dart:typed_data';
+
+import 'package:dartssh2/dartssh2.dart';
+import 'package:dartssh2/src/message/msg_disconnect.dart';
+import 'package:test/test.dart';
+
+void main() {
+  group('SSHClient.disconnect', () {
+    test('sends SSH_MSG_DISCONNECT before closing', () async {
+      final socket = _CaptureSSHSocket();
+      final client = SSHClient(socket, username: 'test');
+
+      await client.disconnect();
+
+      expect(client.isClosed, isTrue);
+      final message = _findDisconnectMessage(socket.packets);
+      expect(message, isNotNull,
+          reason: 'a disconnect packet must reach the wire before the close');
+      expect(message!.reasonCode, SSHDisconnectReason.byApplication.code);
+      expect(
+          message.description, SSHDisconnectReason.byApplication.description);
+    });
+
+    test('is a no-op on an already closed client', () async {
+      final socket = _CaptureSSHSocket();
+      final client = SSHClient(socket, username: 'test');
+      await client.close();
+
+      await client.disconnect();
+
+      expect(client.isClosed, isTrue);
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+/// Scans raw socket writes for an unencrypted `SSH_MSG_DISCONNECT` packet.
+///
+/// Before the first key exchange packets are sent in the clear, so the wire
+/// format is directly parseable: 4-byte length, 1-byte padding length, then
+/// the payload. Writes that are not binary packets (the version line) are
+/// skipped by the length sanity check.
+SSH_Message_Disconnect? _findDisconnectMessage(List<Uint8List> writes) {
+  for (final write in writes) {
+    if (write.length < 6) continue;
+    final payloadLength =
+        write[0] << 24 | write[1] << 16 | write[2] << 8 | write[3];
+    if (payloadLength < 1 || payloadLength + 4 > write.length) continue;
+    final payload = write.sublist(5, 4 + payloadLength);
+    if (payload.isEmpty || payload[0] != SSH_Message_Disconnect.messageId) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    return SSH_Message_Disconnect.decode(
+      Uint8List.fromList(
+          [SSH_Message_Disconnect.messageId, ...payload.sublist(1)]),
+    );
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+class _CaptureSSHSocket implements SSHSocket {
+  final _inputController = StreamController<Uint8List>();
+  final _doneCompleter = Completer<void>();
+  final packets = <Uint8List>[];
+
+  @override
+  Stream<Uint8List> get stream => _inputController.stream;
+
+  @override
+  StreamSink<List<int>> get sink => _CaptureSink(packets);
+
+  @override
+  Future<void> get done => _doneCompleter.future;
+
+  @override
+  Future<void> close() async {
+    if (!_doneCompleter.isCompleted) {
+      _doneCompleter.complete();
+    }
+    await _inputController.close();
+  }
+
+  @override
+  void destroy() {
+    if (!_doneCompleter.isCompleted) {
+      _doneCompleter.complete();
+    }
+    unawaited(_inputController.close());
+  }
+
+  @override
+  Future<void> flush() async {}
+}
+
+class _CaptureSink implements StreamSink<List<int>> {
+  _CaptureSink(this._packets);
+
+  final List<Uint8List> _packets;
+
+  @override
+  void add(List<int> data) {
+    _packets.add(Uint8List.fromList(data));
+  }
+
+  @override
+  Future<void> addStream(Stream<List<int>> stream) async {
+    await for (final chunk in stream) {
+      add(chunk);
+    }
+  }
+
+  @override
+  void addError(Object error, [StackTrace? stackTrace]) {}
+
+  @override
+  Future<void> close() async {}
+
+  @override
+  Future<void> get done async {}
+}