diff --git a/tools/virsh.c b/tools/virsh.c
index 77d3754efd..513c22cde2 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.c
+++ b/tools/virsh.c
@@ -347,8 +347,9 @@ virshInit(vshControl *ctl)
     virshControlPtr priv = ctl->privData;
 
     /* Since we have the commandline arguments parsed, we need to
-     * re-initialize all the debugging to make it work properly */
-    vshInitDebug(ctl);
+     * reload our initial settings to make debugging and readline
+     * work properly */
+    vshInitReload(ctl);
 
     if (priv->conn)
         return false;
diff --git a/tools/vsh.c b/tools/vsh.c
index e6ecc03854..1aa8f5bc9d 100644
--- a/tools/vsh.c
+++ b/tools/vsh.c
@@ -2738,6 +2738,25 @@ vshInit(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmdGrp *groups, const vshCmdDef *set)
     return true;
 }
 
+bool
+vshInitReload(vshControl *ctl)
+{
+    if (!cmdGroups && !cmdSet) {
+        vshError(ctl, "%s", _("command groups and command are both NULL "
+                              "run vshInit before reloading"));
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    vshInitDebug(ctl);
+
+    if (ctl->imode)
+        vshReadlineDeinit(ctl);
+    if (ctl->imode && vshReadlineInit(ctl) < 0)
+        return false;
+
+    return true;
+}
+
 void
 vshDeinit(vshControl *ctl)
 {
diff --git a/tools/vsh.h b/tools/vsh.h
index e2e33ba160..b6876048cb 100644
--- a/tools/vsh.h
+++ b/tools/vsh.h
@@ -303,6 +303,7 @@ int vshCommandOptTimeoutToMs(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd, int *timeout);
 void vshPrintExtra(vshControl *ctl, const char *format, ...)
     ATTRIBUTE_FMT_PRINTF(2, 3);
 bool vshInit(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmdGrp *groups, const vshCmdDef *set);
+bool vshInitReload(vshControl *ctl);
 void vshDeinit(vshControl *ctl);
 void vshInitDebug(vshControl *ctl);
 void vshDebug(vshControl *ctl, int level, const char *format, ...)