diff --git a/tools/virsh.c b/tools/virsh.c
index 5dc482d90e..f74698fa5f 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.c
+++ b/tools/virsh.c
@@ -935,6 +935,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     memset(ctl, 0, sizeof(vshControl));
     memset(&virshCtl, 0, sizeof(virshControl));
     ctl->name = "virsh";        /* hardcoded name of the binary */
+    ctl->env_prefix = "VIRSH";
     ctl->log_fd = -1;           /* Initialize log file descriptor */
     ctl->debug = VSH_DEBUG_DEFAULT;
     ctl->hooks = &hooks;
diff --git a/tools/virt-admin.c b/tools/virt-admin.c
index a59c4c7226..2ae05dab72 100644
--- a/tools/virt-admin.c
+++ b/tools/virt-admin.c
@@ -1340,6 +1340,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     memset(ctl, 0, sizeof(vshControl));
     memset(&virtAdminCtl, 0, sizeof(vshAdmControl));
     ctl->name = "virt-admin";        /* hardcoded name of the binary */
+    ctl->env_prefix = "VIRT_ADMIN";
     ctl->log_fd = -1;                /* Initialize log file descriptor */
     ctl->debug = VSH_DEBUG_DEFAULT;
     ctl->hooks = &hooks;
diff --git a/tools/vsh.c b/tools/vsh.c
index 400b94eb04..6823ab509e 100644
--- a/tools/vsh.c
+++ b/tools/vsh.c
@@ -2830,16 +2830,10 @@ static int
 vshReadlineInit(vshControl *ctl)
 {
     char *userdir = NULL;
-    char *name_capitalized = NULL;
     int max_history = 500;
     int ret = -1;
     char *histsize_env = NULL;
     const char *histsize_str = NULL;
-    const char *strings[] = {
-        name_capitalized,
-        "HISTSIZE",
-        NULL
-    };
 
     /* Allow conditional parsing of the ~/.inputrc file.
      * Work around ancient readline 4.1 (hello Mac OS X),
@@ -2852,8 +2846,7 @@ vshReadlineInit(vshControl *ctl)
 
     rl_basic_word_break_characters = " \t\n\\`@$><=;|&{(";
 
-    if (virStringToUpper(&name_capitalized, ctl->name) < 0 ||
-        !(histsize_env = virStringJoin(strings, "_")))
+    if (virAsprintf(&histsize_env, "%s_HISTSIZE", ctl->env_prefix) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     /* Limit the total size of the history buffer */
@@ -2895,7 +2888,6 @@ vshReadlineInit(vshControl *ctl)
 
  cleanup:
     VIR_FREE(userdir);
-    VIR_FREE(name_capitalized);
     VIR_FREE(histsize_env);
     return ret;
 }
@@ -2967,10 +2959,14 @@ static int
 vshInitDebug(vshControl *ctl)
 {
     const char *debugEnv;
+    char *env = NULL;
 
     if (ctl->debug == VSH_DEBUG_DEFAULT) {
+        if (virAsprintf(&env, "%s_DEBUG", ctl->env_prefix) < 0)
+            return -1;
+
         /* log level not set from commandline, check env variable */
-        debugEnv = virGetEnvAllowSUID("VSH_DEBUG");
+        debugEnv = virGetEnvAllowSUID(env);
         if (debugEnv) {
             int debug;
             if (virStrToLong_i(debugEnv, NULL, 10, &debug) < 0 ||
@@ -2981,15 +2977,20 @@ vshInitDebug(vshControl *ctl)
                 ctl->debug = debug;
             }
         }
+        VIR_FREE(env);
     }
 
     if (ctl->logfile == NULL) {
+        if (virAsprintf(&env, "%s_LOG_FILE", ctl->env_prefix) < 0)
+            return -1;
+
         /* log file not set from cmdline */
-        debugEnv = virGetEnvBlockSUID("VSH_LOG_FILE");
+        debugEnv = virGetEnvBlockSUID(env);
         if (debugEnv && *debugEnv) {
             ctl->logfile = vshStrdup(ctl, debugEnv);
             vshOpenLogFile(ctl);
         }
+        VIR_FREE(env);
     }
 
     return 0;
diff --git a/tools/vsh.h b/tools/vsh.h
index 8d6739724c..7f430552e2 100644
--- a/tools/vsh.h
+++ b/tools/vsh.h
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ struct _vshControl {
     const char *name;           /* hardcoded name of the binary that cannot
                                  * be changed without recompilation compared
                                  * to program name */
+    const char *env_prefix;     /* hardcoded environment variable prefix */
     char *connname;             /* connection name */
     char *progname;             /* program name */
     vshCmd *cmd;                /* the current command */