diff --git a/init/Config.src b/init/Config.src
index 590e29890..2cac3573e 100644
--- a/init/Config.src
+++ b/init/Config.src
@@ -89,6 +89,18 @@ config FEATURE_INITRD
 	  This does not apply to initramfs, which runs /init as PID 1 and
 	  requires no special support.
 
+config INIT_TERMINAL_TYPE
+	string "Initial terminal type"
+	default "linux"
+	depends on INIT
+	help
+	  This is the initial value set by init for the TERM environment
+	  variable. This variable is used by programs which make use of
+	  extended terminal capabilities.
+
+	  Note that on Linux, init attempts to detect serial terminal and
+	  sets TERM to "vt102" if one is found.
+
 config HALT
 	bool "poweroff, halt, and reboot"
 	default y
diff --git a/init/init.c b/init/init.c
index d8bf15894..fa1af6d7c 100644
--- a/init/init.c
+++ b/init/init.c
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ static void console_init(void)
 	} else
 #endif
 	if (!s)
-		putenv((char*)"TERM=linux");
+		putenv((char*)"TERM=" CONFIG_INIT_TERMINAL_TYPE);
 }
 
 /* Set terminal settings to reasonable defaults.