diff --git a/janet.1 b/janet.1
index b2afd7c4..6e03808c 100644
--- a/janet.1
+++ b/janet.1
@@ -272,6 +272,11 @@ This variable does nothing in the default configuration of Janet, as PRF is disa
 cannot be defined for this variable to have an effect.
 .RE
 
+.B JANET_HISTFILE
+.RS
+A file location to use for the default shell's REPL history. This relative path is where commands are persisted between sessions.
+.RE
+
 .B NO_COLOR
 .RS
 Turn off color by default in the repl and in the error handler of scripts. This can be changed at runtime
diff --git a/src/core/io.c b/src/core/io.c
index b7ff524f..52eb9f73 100644
--- a/src/core/io.c
+++ b/src/core/io.c
@@ -718,6 +718,18 @@ JANET_CORE_FN(cfun_io_eflush,
     return janet_wrap_nil();
 }
 
+void janet_xprintf(FILE *file, const char *format, ...) {
+    va_list args;
+    va_start(args, format);
+    JanetBuffer buffer;
+    int32_t len = 0;
+    while (format[len]) len++;
+    janet_buffer_init(&buffer, len);
+    janet_formatbv(&buffer, format, args);
+    fwrite(buffer.data, buffer.count, 1, file);
+    janet_buffer_deinit(&buffer);
+}
+
 void janet_dynprintf(const char *name, FILE *dflt_file, const char *format, ...) {
     va_list args;
     va_start(args, format);
diff --git a/src/include/janet.h b/src/include/janet.h
index 495a78c2..d6d7fe1f 100644
--- a/src/include/janet.h
+++ b/src/include/janet.h
@@ -1439,6 +1439,7 @@ JANET_API void janet_loop(void);
  *     } else {
  *       janet_schedule(interrupted_fiber, janet_wrap_nil());
  *     }
+ *     janet_interpreter_interrupt_handled(NULL);
  *   }
  * }
  *
@@ -1889,7 +1890,7 @@ JANET_API void janet_vm_free(JanetVM *vm);
 JANET_API void janet_vm_save(JanetVM *into);
 JANET_API void janet_vm_load(JanetVM *from);
 JANET_API void janet_interpreter_interrupt(JanetVM *vm);
-JANET_API void janet_interpreter_interrupt_handled(JanetVM *vm);
+JANET_API void janet_interpreter_interrupt_handled(JanetVM *vm); /* Call this after running interrupt handler */
 JANET_API JanetSignal janet_continue(JanetFiber *fiber, Janet in, Janet *out);
 JANET_API JanetSignal janet_continue_signal(JanetFiber *fiber, Janet in, Janet *out, JanetSignal sig);
 JANET_API JanetSignal janet_pcall(JanetFunction *fun, int32_t argn, const Janet *argv, Janet *out, JanetFiber **f);
@@ -2051,6 +2052,7 @@ JANET_NO_RETURN JANET_API void janet_panicv(Janet message);
 JANET_NO_RETURN JANET_API void janet_panic(const char *message);
 JANET_NO_RETURN JANET_API void janet_panics(JanetString message);
 JANET_NO_RETURN JANET_API void janet_panicf(const char *format, ...);
+JANET_API void janet_xprintf(FILE *file, const char *format, ...);
 JANET_API void janet_dynprintf(const char *name, FILE *dflt_file, const char *format, ...);
 #define janet_printf(...) janet_dynprintf("out", stdout, __VA_ARGS__)
 #define janet_eprintf(...) janet_dynprintf("err", stderr, __VA_ARGS__)
diff --git a/src/mainclient/shell.c b/src/mainclient/shell.c
index a665acca..4828c444 100644
--- a/src/mainclient/shell.c
+++ b/src/mainclient/shell.c
@@ -96,9 +96,9 @@ static void simpleline(JanetBuffer *buffer) {
 
 #ifndef JANET_SIMPLE_GETLINE
 /* static state */
-#define JANET_LINE_MAX 1024
+#define JANET_LINE_MAX 4096
 #define JANET_MATCH_MAX 256
-#define JANET_HISTORY_MAX 100
+#define JANET_HISTORY_MAX 1000
 static JANET_THREAD_LOCAL int gbl_israwmode = 0;
 static JANET_THREAD_LOCAL const char *gbl_prompt = "> ";
 static JANET_THREAD_LOCAL int gbl_plen = 2;
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ static JANET_THREAD_LOCAL int gbl_historyi = 0;
 static JANET_THREAD_LOCAL JanetByteView gbl_matches[JANET_MATCH_MAX];
 static JANET_THREAD_LOCAL int gbl_match_count = 0;
 static JANET_THREAD_LOCAL int gbl_lines_below = 0;
+static JANET_THREAD_LOCAL int gbl_history_loaded = 0;
+static JANET_THREAD_LOCAL char *gbl_history_file = NULL;
 #endif
 
 /* Fallback */
@@ -430,6 +432,74 @@ static int insert(char c, int draw) {
     return 0;
 }
 
+static void calc_history_file(void) {
+    char *hist = getenv("JANET_HISTFILE");
+    if (hist) {
+        gbl_history_file = sdup(hist);
+    } else {
+        const char *home = (const char *) getenv("HOME");
+        if (NULL == home) home = "";
+        const char *filename = ".janet_history.jdn";
+        size_t homelen = strlen(home);
+        size_t filelen = strlen(filename);
+        size_t buflen = homelen + filelen + 1;
+        char *buffer = janet_malloc(buflen + 1);
+        if (homelen) memcpy(buffer, home, homelen);
+        buffer[homelen] = '/';
+        memcpy(buffer + homelen + 1, filename, filelen);
+        buffer[buflen] = '\0';
+        gbl_history_file = buffer;
+    }
+    /* fprintf(stderr, "history_file: %s\n", gbl_history_file); */
+}
+
+static void loadhistory(void) {
+    if (gbl_history_loaded) return;
+    calc_history_file();
+    gbl_history_loaded = 1;
+    FILE *history_file = fopen(gbl_history_file, "rb");
+    if (NULL == history_file) return;
+    JanetParser p;
+    janet_parser_init(&p);
+    int c = 0;
+    while ((c = fgetc(history_file))) {
+        if (c == EOF) {
+            janet_parser_eof(&p);
+        } else {
+            janet_parser_consume(&p, c);
+        }
+
+        while (janet_parser_has_more(&p) && gbl_history_count < JANET_HISTORY_MAX) {
+            if (janet_parser_status(&p) == JANET_PARSE_ERROR) {
+                janet_eprintf("bad history file: %s\n", janet_parser_error(&p));
+                goto parsing_done;
+            }
+            Janet x = janet_parser_produce(&p);
+            const char *cstr = (const char *) janet_to_string(x);
+            if (cstr[0]) { /* Drop empty strings */
+                gbl_history[gbl_history_count++] = sdup(cstr);
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (c == EOF) break;
+    }
+parsing_done:
+    janet_parser_deinit(&p);
+    gbl_historyi = 0;
+    fclose(history_file);
+}
+
+static void savehistory(void) {
+    if (gbl_history_count <= 1 || !gbl_history_file) return;
+    FILE *history_file = fopen(gbl_history_file, "wb");
+    for (int i = 0; i < gbl_history_count; i++) {
+        if (gbl_history[i][0]) { /* Drop empty strings */
+            janet_xprintf(history_file, "%j\n", janet_cstringv(gbl_history[i]));
+        }
+    }
+    fclose(history_file);
+}
+
 static void historymove(int delta) {
     if (gbl_history_count > 1) {
         janet_free(gbl_history[gbl_historyi]);
@@ -896,6 +966,7 @@ static int line() {
             case 3:     /* ctrl-c */
                 clearlines();
                 norawmode();
+                savehistory();
 #ifdef _WIN32
                 ExitProcess(1);
 #else
@@ -1089,17 +1160,18 @@ void janet_line_init() {
 }
 
 void janet_line_deinit() {
-    int i;
     norawmode();
-    for (i = 0; i < gbl_history_count; i++)
+    for (int i = 0; i < gbl_history_count; i++)
         janet_free(gbl_history[i]);
     gbl_historyi = 0;
+    if (gbl_history_file) janet_free(gbl_history_file);
 }
 
 void janet_line_get(const char *p, JanetBuffer *buffer) {
     gbl_prompt = p;
     buffer->count = 0;
     gbl_historyi = 0;
+    loadhistory();
     if (check_simpleline(buffer)) return;
     FILE *out = janet_dynfile("err", stderr);
     if (line()) {
@@ -1130,6 +1202,13 @@ static void clear_at_exit(void) {
  * Entry
  */
 
+static void cleanup_at_exit(void) {
+    /* Deinitialize vm */
+    savehistory();
+    janet_deinit();
+    janet_line_deinit();
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     int i, status;
     JanetArray *args;
@@ -1146,6 +1225,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 #if !defined(JANET_SIMPLE_GETLINE)
     atexit(clear_at_exit);
 #endif
+    atexit(cleanup_at_exit);
 
 #if defined(JANET_PRF)
     uint8_t hash_key[JANET_HASH_KEY_SIZE + 1];
@@ -1193,9 +1273,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     /* Run the fiber in an event loop */
     status = janet_loop_fiber(fiber);
 
-    /* Deinitialize vm */
-    janet_deinit();
-    janet_line_deinit();
-
+    /* Deinit moved to atexit */
     return status;
 }