The present invention provides a method for controlling a closing operation of an exhaust valve (11) in an internal combustion engine. A current position X.sub.0 of the exhaust valve (11) and a rotation speed Ne of the internal combustion engine are determined, and on the basis of the current position X.sub.0 and rotation speed Ne, a time T.sub.0 at which a piston arrives at the current position X.sub.0 of the exhaust valve (11) is calculated. The closing operation of the exhaust valve (11) is then started before this arrival time T.sub.0. Next, a time T.sub.1 at which the gap between the exhaust valve (11) and piston reaches a first predetermined value hc1 is calculated, and when this time T.sub.1 arrives, the closing operation of the exhaust valve (11) is stopped temporarily. A time T.sub.2 at which the piston arrives at the stopping position X.sub.1 of the exhaust valve (11) is then calculated, and the closing operation of the exhaust valve (11) is resumed before this arrival time T.sub.2.