diff -r 66a1fbdbe4bb Doc/library/readline.rst
--- a/Doc/library/readline.rst	Thu May 05 16:21:35 2016 +0300
+++ b/Doc/library/readline.rst	Fri May 06 04:29:35 2016 -0500
@@ -156,6 +156,19 @@
    This calls :c:func:`add_history` in the underlying library.
 
 
+.. function:: set_auto_history(enabled)
+
+   Enable or disable automatic calls to :c:func:`add_history` when reading
+   input via readline. *enabled* should be a Boolean value that when True,
+   enables auto history and that when False, disables auto history.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.6
+
+   .. impl-detail::
+      Auto history is enabled by default, and changes to this do not persist
+      across multiple sessions.
+
+
 Startup hooks
 -------------
 
diff -r 66a1fbdbe4bb Modules/readline.c
--- a/Modules/readline.c	Thu May 05 16:21:35 2016 +0300
+++ b/Modules/readline.c	Fri May 06 04:29:35 2016 -0500
@@ -575,6 +575,24 @@
 "add_history(string) -> None\n\
 add an item to the history buffer");
 
+static int should_auto_add_history = 1; 
+
+/* Enable or disable automatic history */
+
+static PyObject *
+py_set_auto_history(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
+{
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "p:set_auto_history",
+                          &should_auto_add_history)) {
+        return NULL;
+    }    
+    Py_RETURN_NONE;
+}
+
+PyDoc_STRVAR(doc_set_auto_history,
+"set_auto_history(enabled) -> None\n\
+Enables or disables automatic history.");
+
 
 /* Get the tab-completion word-delimiters that readline uses */
 
@@ -791,6 +809,7 @@
 
     {"set_completer_delims", set_completer_delims,
      METH_VARARGS, doc_set_completer_delims},
+    {"set_auto_history", py_set_auto_history, METH_VARARGS, doc_set_auto_history},
     {"add_history", py_add_history, METH_VARARGS, doc_add_history},
     {"remove_history_item", py_remove_history, METH_VARARGS, doc_remove_history},
     {"replace_history_item", py_replace_history, METH_VARARGS, doc_replace_history},
@@ -1279,7 +1298,7 @@
             line = (const char *)history_get(length)->line;
         else
             line = "";
-        if (strcmp(p, line))
+        if (should_auto_add_history && strcmp(p, line))
             add_history(p);
     }
     /* Copy the malloc'ed buffer into a PyMem_Malloc'ed one and