2 files changed, 13 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/init/Config.src b/init/Config.src
index 590e29890..2cac3573e 100644
--- a/init/Config.src
+++ b/init/Config.src
@@ -89,6 +89,18 @@ config FEATURE_INITRD
           This does not apply to initramfs, which runs /init as PID 1 and
           requires no special support.
 
+config INIT_TERMINAL_TYPE
+        string "Initial terminal type"
+        default "linux"
+        depends on INIT
+        help
+          This is the initial value set by init for the TERM environment
+          variable. This variable is used by programs which make use of
+          extended terminal capabilities.
+
+          Note that on Linux, init attempts to detect serial terminal and
+          sets TERM to "vt102" if one is found.
+
 config HALT
         bool "poweroff, halt, and reboot"
         default y
diff --git a/init/init.c b/init/init.c
index d8bf15894..fa1af6d7c 100644
--- a/init/init.c
+++ b/init/init.c
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ static void console_init(void)
         } else
 #endif
         if (!s)
-                putenv((char*)"TERM=linux");
+                putenv((char*)"TERM=" CONFIG_INIT_TERMINAL_TYPE);
 }
 
 /* Set terminal settings to reasonable defaults.