diff --git a/sys/shell/shell.c b/sys/shell/shell.c
index 543069fdc5..f791525394 100644
--- a/sys/shell/shell.c
+++ b/sys/shell/shell.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include "shell.h"
 #include "shell_commands.h"
 
+#define ETX '\x03'  /** ASCII "End-of-Text", or ctrl-C */
 #if !defined(SHELL_NO_ECHO) || !defined(SHELL_NO_PROMPT)
 #ifdef MODULE_NEWLIB
 /* use local copy of putchar, as it seems to be inlined,
@@ -243,7 +244,8 @@ static int readline(char *buf, size_t size)
         /* We allow Unix linebreaks (\n), DOS linebreaks (\r\n), and Mac linebreaks (\r). */
         /* QEMU transmits only a single '\r' == 13 on hitting enter ("-serial stdio"). */
         /* DOS newlines are handled like hitting enter twice, but empty lines are ignored. */
-        if (c == '\r' || c == '\n') {
+        /* Ctrl-C cancels the current line. */
+        if (c == '\r' || c == '\n' || c == ETX) {
             *line_buf_ptr = '\0';
 #ifndef SHELL_NO_ECHO
             _putchar('\r');
@@ -251,7 +253,7 @@ static int readline(char *buf, size_t size)
 #endif
 
             /* return 1 if line is empty, 0 otherwise */
-            return line_buf_ptr == buf;
+            return c == ETX || line_buf_ptr == buf;
         }
         /* QEMU uses 0x7f (DEL) as backspace, while 0x08 (BS) is for most terminals */
         else if (c == 0x08 || c == 0x7f) {