diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/container/exec/child/main.go b/internal/app/wwctl/container/exec/child/main.go
index 64222022..15a79e66 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/container/exec/child/main.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/container/exec/child/main.go
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ func CobraRunE(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 
 	ps1string := fmt.Sprintf("[%s] Warewulf> ", containerName)
 	os.Setenv("PS1", ps1string)
+	os.Setenv("HISTFILE", "/dev/null")
 
 	err := syscall.Exec(args[1], args[1:], os.Environ())
 	if err != nil {