diff --git a/src/window.cpp b/src/window.cpp
index 01d0ab8b..55a21cfe 100644
--- a/src/window.cpp
+++ b/src/window.cpp
@@ -380,10 +380,12 @@ void initScreen(GNUC_UNUSED const char *window_title, bool enable_colors)
 	noecho();
 	curs_set(0);
 
-	rl_catch_signals = 0;
 	rl_initialize();
 	// disable autocompletion
 	rl_bind_key('\t', nullptr);
+	rl_bind_key(KEY_ESCAPE, nullptr);
+	// do not catch signals
+	rl_catch_signals = 0;
 	// overwrite readline callbacks
 	rl_getc_function = rl::read_key;
 	rl_redisplay_function = rl::display_string;
diff --git a/src/window.h b/src/window.h
index 29430265..b769e16f 100644
--- a/src/window.h
+++ b/src/window.h
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@
 #define KEY_F12 276
 
 // other handy keys
+#define KEY_ESCAPE 27
 #define KEY_SHIFT_TAB 353
 #define KEY_SPACE 32
 #define KEY_TAB 9