diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 05579c2c259bb..1d380aeb76853 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@
 !/.dockerignore
 !/.editorconfig
 !/.gitignore
+!/.irb_config
 !/.yardopts
 !/.vale.ini
 !/.shellcheckrc
diff --git a/.irb_config b/.irb_config
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..607743700437f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.irb_config
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# Note that we use a non-standard config file name to reduce
+# name clashes with other IRB config files like `.irbrc`.
+
+require 'irb/completion'
+
+IRB.conf[:SAVE_HISTORY] = 100
+IRB.conf[:HISTORY_FILE] = "#{__dir__}/.irb_history"
+IRB.conf[:IRB_NAME] = "brew"
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/irb.rb b/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/irb.rb
index 011202370308d..eabeb0943e1c3 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/irb.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/irb.rb
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ def irb
     if args.pry?
       Pry.start
     else
+      ENV["IRBRC"] = (HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY/".irb_config").to_s
+
       IRB.start
     end
   end