diff --git a/commonsh/10_alias b/commonsh/10_alias
index 7915526..3f7c204 100755
--- a/commonsh/10_alias
+++ b/commonsh/10_alias
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ for EDITOR in vim elvis vile nvi vi ; do
 done
 export EDITOR
 
+# make the history editor the editor we want
+FCEDIT=$EDITOR
+export $FCEDIT
+
 # aliases
 alias cd..='cd ..'