diff --git a/app/shell/shell.c b/app/shell/shell.c
index 89421736..bc760edd 100644
--- a/app/shell/shell.c
+++ b/app/shell/shell.c
@@ -9,16 +9,11 @@
 #include <lk/debug.h>
 #include <lib/console.h>
 
-static void shell_init(const struct app_descriptor *app) {
-    console_init();
-}
-
 static void shell_entry(const struct app_descriptor *app, void *args) {
     console_start();
 }
 
 APP_START(shell)
-.init = shell_init,
 .entry = shell_entry,
 APP_END
 
diff --git a/lib/console/console.c b/lib/console/console.c
index 1dce14bd..8bb56e61 100644
--- a/lib/console/console.c
+++ b/lib/console/console.c
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 #include <lib/env.h>
 #endif
 
+// Whether to enable command line history. Uses a nonzero
+// amount of memory, probably shouldn't enable for memory constrained devices.
 #ifndef CONSOLE_ENABLE_HISTORY
 #define CONSOLE_ENABLE_HISTORY 1
 #endif
@@ -36,8 +38,6 @@
 
 #define MAX_NUM_ARGS 16
 
-#define HISTORY_LEN 16
-
 #define LOCAL_TRACE 0
 
 #define WHITESPACE " \t"
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ static bool abort_script;
 
 #if CONSOLE_ENABLE_HISTORY
 /* command history stuff */
-static char *history; // HISTORY_LEN rows of LINE_LEN chars a piece
-static uint history_next;
+#define HISTORY_LEN 16
+static char history[HISTORY_LEN * LINE_LEN];
+static uint history_next = 0;
 
-static void init_history(void);
 static void add_history(const char *line);
 static uint start_history_cursor(void);
 static const char *next_history(uint *cursor);
@@ -98,16 +98,6 @@ STATIC_COMMAND("repeat", "repeats command multiple times", &cmd_repeat)
 #endif
 STATIC_COMMAND_END(help);
 
-int console_init(void) {
-    LTRACE_ENTRY;
-
-#if CONSOLE_ENABLE_HISTORY
-    init_history();
-#endif
-
-    return 0;
-}
-
 #if CONSOLE_ENABLE_HISTORY
 static int cmd_history(int argc, const cmd_args *argv) {
     dump_history();
@@ -137,12 +127,6 @@ static void dump_history(void) {
     }
 }
 
-static void init_history(void) {
-    /* allocate and set up the history buffer */
-    history = calloc(1, HISTORY_LEN * LINE_LEN);
-    history_next = 0;
-}
-
 static void add_history(const char *line) {
     // reject some stuff
     if (line[0] == 0)
diff --git a/lib/console/include/lib/console.h b/lib/console/include/lib/console.h
index 88a4539c..43aa0fcd 100644
--- a/lib/console/include/lib/console.h
+++ b/lib/console/include/lib/console.h
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 #include <lib/console/cmd.h>
 
 /* external api */
-int console_init(void);
 void console_start(void);
 int console_run_script(const char *string);
 int console_run_script_locked(const char *string); // special case from inside a command
diff --git a/target/sifive-e/rules.mk b/target/sifive-e/rules.mk
index 348575ca..8e9fb372 100644
--- a/target/sifive-e/rules.mk
+++ b/target/sifive-e/rules.mk
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ GLOBAL_DEFINES += SIFIVE_FREQ=16000000
 MODULE_SRCS := $(LOCAL_DIR)/target.c
 
 # set some global defines based on capability
+GLOBAL_DEFINES += CONSOLE_ENABLE_HISTORY=0
 GLOBAL_DEFINES += PLATFORM_HAS_DYNAMIC_TIMER=1
 GLOBAL_DEFINES += ARCH_RISCV_CLINT_BASE=0x02000000
 GLOBAL_DEFINES += ARCH_RISCV_MTIME_RATE=32768
diff --git a/target/stellaris-launchpad/rules.mk b/target/stellaris-launchpad/rules.mk
index 20588460..f8b8c3aa 100644
--- a/target/stellaris-launchpad/rules.mk
+++ b/target/stellaris-launchpad/rules.mk
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ STELLARIS_CHIP := LM4F120H5QR
 PLATFORM := stellaris
 
 GLOBAL_DEFINES += \
+	CONSOLE_ENABLE_HISTORY=0 \
 	TARGET_HAS_DEBUG_LED=1 \
 	CRYSTAL_FREQ=16000000