diff -u b/core/misc/message.js b/core/misc/message.js
--- b/core/misc/message.js
+++ b/core/misc/message.js
@@ -84,16 +84,12 @@
         throw new Error(Drupal.t('Object.message() expect a message to remove.'));
       }
 
-      var removeSelector = (messages instanceof Array ? messages : [messages])
+      var removeSelectors = (messages instanceof Array ? messages : [messages])
         .map(function (messageIndex) {
-          return typeof messageIndex === 'string' ?
-            // If it's a string, select corresponding message.
-            '[data-drupal-message="' + messageIndex + '"]' :
-            // If the index is numeric remove the element based on the DOM index.
-            '[data-drupal-message]:nth-child(' + messageIndex + ')';
+          return '[data-drupal-message="' + messageIndex + '"]';
         });
 
-      var remove = this.element.querySelectorAll(removeSelector.join(', '));
+      var remove = this.element.querySelectorAll(removeSelectors.join(', '));
       var length = remove.length;
       for (var i = 0; i < length; i += 1) {
         this.element.removeChild(remove[i]);