diff -r a2928dd2fde4 Lib/site.py --- a/Lib/site.py Mon May 06 12:24:30 2013 +0100 +++ b/Lib/site.py Mon May 06 14:32:39 2013 +0200 @@ -478,7 +478,15 @@ readline.parse_and_bind('bind ^I rl_complete') else: readline.parse_and_bind('tab: complete') - readline.read_init_file() + + try: + readline.read_init_file() + except OSError: + # An OSError here could have many causes, but the most likely one + # is that there's no .inputrc file (or .editrc file in the case of + # Mac OS X + libedit) in the expected location. In that case, we + # want to ignore the exception. + pass history = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser('~'), '.python_history') try: