diff --git a/clean_files.txt b/clean_files.txt
index 06b19f5d42..801af02f1d 100644
--- a/clean_files.txt
+++ b/clean_files.txt
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ completion/available/wpscan.completion.bash
 
 # libraries
 lib/helpers.bash
+lib/history.bash
 lib/log.bash
 lib/preexec.bash
 lib/utilities.bash
diff --git a/lib/history.bash b/lib/history.bash
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7bdbbd5ef0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/history.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# shellcheck shell=bash
+#
+# Functions for working with Bash's command history.
+
+function _bash-it-history-init() {
+	safe_append_preexec '_bash-it-history-auto-save'
+	safe_append_prompt_command '_bash-it-history-auto-load'
+}
+
+function _bash-it-history-auto-save() {
+	case $HISTCONTROL in
+		*'noauto'* | *'autoload'*)
+			: # Do nothing, as configured.
+			;;
+		*'auto'*)
+			# Append new history from this session to the $HISTFILE
+			history -a
+			;;
+		*)
+			# Append *only* if shell option `histappend` has been enabled.
+			shopt -q histappend && history -a && return
+			;;
+	esac
+}
+
+function _bash-it-history-auto-load() {
+	case $HISTCONTROL in
+		*'noauto'*)
+			: # Do nothing, as configured.
+			;;
+		*'autosave'*)
+			# Append new history from this session to the $HISTFILE
+			history -a
+			;;
+		*'autoloadnew'*)
+			# Read new entries from $HISTFILE
+			history -n
+			;;
+		*'auto'*)
+			# Blank in-memory history, then read entire $HISTFILE fresh from disk.
+			history -a && history -c && history -r
+			;;
+		*)
+			: # Do nothing, default.
+			;;
+	esac
+}
+
+_bash_it_library_finalize_hook+=('_bash-it-history-init')
diff --git a/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
index 4c8cdabaf6..d9e930c389 100644
--- a/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
+++ b/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
@@ -5,15 +5,14 @@ about-plugin 'improve history handling with sane defaults'
 # variable when the shell exits, rather than overwriting the file.
 shopt -s histappend
 
-# erase duplicates; alternative option: HISTCONTROL=ignoredups
-: "${HISTCONTROL:=ignorespace:erasedups}"
+# 'ignorespace': don't save command lines which begin with a space to history
+# 'erasedups' (alternative 'ignoredups'): don't save duplicates to history
+# 'autoshare': automatically share history between multiple running shells
+: "${HISTCONTROL:=ignorespace:erasedups:autoshare}"
 
 # resize history to 100x the default (500)
 : "${HISTSIZE:=50000}"
 
-# Flush history to disk after each command.
-export PROMPT_COMMAND="history -a;${PROMPT_COMMAND}"
-
 function top-history() {
 	about 'print the name and count of the most commonly run tools'
 
diff --git a/themes/base.theme.bash b/themes/base.theme.bash
index a7e999617b..06c7b919a7 100644
--- a/themes/base.theme.bash
+++ b/themes/base.theme.bash
@@ -584,6 +584,6 @@ function aws_profile {
 }
 
 function _save-and-reload-history() {
-	local autosave=${1:-0}
-	[[ $autosave -eq 1 ]] && history -a && history -c && history -r
+	[[ ${1:-${autosave:-${HISTORY_AUTOSAVE:-0}}} -eq 1 ]] && local HISTCONTROL="${HISTCONTROL:-}${HISTCONTROL:+:}autoshare"
+	_bash-it-history-auto-save && _bash-it-history-auto-load
 }