diff --git a/src/nmcli/agent.c b/src/nmcli/agent.c
index a71e40594b..842843995a 100644
--- a/src/nmcli/agent.c
+++ b/src/nmcli/agent.c
@@ -7,9 +7,12 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#if HAVE_EDITLINE_READLINE
+#include <editline/readline.h>
+#else
 #include <readline/readline.h>
 #include <readline/history.h>
-
+#endif
 #include "common.h"
 #include "utils.h"
 #include "libnmc-base/nm-secret-agent-simple.h"
diff --git a/src/nmcli/common.c b/src/nmcli/common.c
index 690bcf0d03..67bbb6a179 100644
--- a/src/nmcli/common.c
+++ b/src/nmcli/common.c
@@ -10,9 +10,12 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
-#include <readline/readline.h>
+#if HAVE_EDITLINE_READLINE
+#include <editline/readline.h>
+#else
 #include <readline/history.h>
-
+#include <readline/readline.h>
+#endif
 #include "libnm-client-aux-extern/nm-libnm-aux.h"
 
 #include "libnmc-base/nm-vpn-helpers.h"
@@ -1007,10 +1010,14 @@ nmc_readline_echo(const NmcConfig *nmc_config, gboolean echo_on, const char *pro
     va_list       args;
     gs_free char *prompt = NULL;
     char *        str;
+#if HAVE_READLINE_HISTORY
     nm_auto_free HISTORY_STATE *saved_history  = NULL;
     HISTORY_STATE               passwd_history = {
         0,
     };
+#else
+    int start, curpos;
+#endif
 
     va_start(args, prompt_fmt);
     prompt = g_strdup_vprintf(prompt_fmt, args);
@@ -1020,8 +1027,12 @@ nmc_readline_echo(const NmcConfig *nmc_config, gboolean echo_on, const char *pro
 
     /* Hide the actual password */
     if (!echo_on) {
+#if HAVE_READLINE_HISTORY
         saved_history = history_get_history_state();
         history_set_history_state(&passwd_history);
+#else
+        start  = where_history();
+#endif
         /* stifling history is important as it tells readline to
          * not store anything, otherwise sensitive data could be
          * leaked */
@@ -1034,7 +1045,13 @@ nmc_readline_echo(const NmcConfig *nmc_config, gboolean echo_on, const char *pro
     /* Restore the non-hiding behavior */
     if (!echo_on) {
         rl_redisplay_function = rl_redisplay;
+#if HAVE_READLINE_HISTORY
         history_set_history_state(saved_history);
+#else
+        curpos = where_history();
+        while (curpos > start)
+            remove_history(curpos--);
+#endif
     }
 
     return str;
diff --git a/src/nmcli/connections.c b/src/nmcli/connections.c
index 4f291408af..70fa89608b 100644
--- a/src/nmcli/connections.c
+++ b/src/nmcli/connections.c
@@ -11,8 +11,12 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <signal.h>
+#if HAVE_EDITLINE_READLINE
+#include <editline/readline.h>
+#else
 #include <readline/readline.h>
 #include <readline/history.h>
+#endif
 #include <fcntl.h>
 
 #include "libnm-glib-aux/nm-dbus-aux.h"
@@ -6453,8 +6457,10 @@ gen_property_values(const char *text, int state)
     return nmc_rl_gen_func_basic(text, state, avals);
 }
 
+#if !HAVE_EDITLINE_READLINE
 /* from readline */
 extern int rl_complete_with_tilde_expansion;
+#endif
 
 /*
  * Attempt to complete on the contents of TEXT.  START and END show the
@@ -6482,8 +6488,10 @@ nmcli_editor_tab_completion(const char *text, int start, int end)
     /* Disable default filename completion */
     rl_attempted_completion_over = 1;
 
+#if !HAVE_EDITLINE_READLINE
     /* Enable tilde expansion when filenames are completed */
     rl_complete_with_tilde_expansion = 1;
+#endif
 
     /* Filter out possible ANSI color escape sequences */
     prompt_tmp = nmc_filter_out_colors((const char *) rl_prompt);
@@ -9617,8 +9625,10 @@ nmcli_con_tab_completion(const char *text, int start, int end)
         nmc_tab_completion.words = _meta_abstract_complete(info, text);
         generator_func           = _meta_abstract_generator;
     } else if (nm_streq0(rl_prompt, PROMPT_IMPORT_FILE)) {
-        rl_attempted_completion_over     = 0;
+        rl_attempted_completion_over = 0;
+#if !HAVE_EDITLINE_READLINE
         rl_complete_with_tilde_expansion = 1;
+#endif
     } else if (nm_streq0(rl_prompt, PROMPT_VPN_CONNECTION)) {
         generator_func = gen_vpn_ids;
     }
diff --git a/src/nmcli/devices.c b/src/nmcli/devices.c
index 33be4e7a6d..00339868b6 100644
--- a/src/nmcli/devices.c
+++ b/src/nmcli/devices.c
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#if HAVE_EDITLINE_READLINE
+#include <editline/readline.h>
+#else
 #include <readline/readline.h>
+#endif
 #include <linux/if_ether.h>
 
 #include "libnm-glib-aux/nm-secret-utils.h"
diff --git a/src/nmcli/nmcli.c b/src/nmcli/nmcli.c
index 9c6a791187..b2b2cd8143 100644
--- a/src/nmcli/nmcli.c
+++ b/src/nmcli/nmcli.c
@@ -14,8 +14,12 @@
 #include <termios.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <locale.h>
+#if HAVE_EDITLINE_READLINE
+#include <editline/readline.h>
+#else
 #include <readline/readline.h>
 #include <readline/history.h>
+#endif
 
 #include "libnmc-base/nm-client-utils.h"