diff --git a/starter-kit-eshell.el b/starter-kit-eshell.el
index a4e0abf826..8de3d051ce 100644
--- a/starter-kit-eshell.el
+++ b/starter-kit-eshell.el
@@ -11,20 +11,20 @@
      (require 'em-prompt)
      (require 'em-term)
      (require 'em-cmpl)
-     ;; TODO: for some reason requiring this here breaks it, but
-     ;; requiring it after an eshell session is started works fine.
-     ;; (require 'eshell-vc)
      (setenv "PAGER" "cat")
      (set-face-attribute 'eshell-prompt nil :foreground "turquoise1")
-     (add-hook 'eshell-mode-hook ;; for some reason this needs to be a hook
-	       '(lambda () (define-key eshell-mode-map "\C-a" 'eshell-bol)))
+     (when (< emacs-major-version 23)
+       (add-hook 'eshell-mode-hook ;; for some reason this needs to be a hook
+                 '(lambda () (define-key eshell-mode-map "\C-a" 'eshell-bol)))
+       (add-to-list 'eshell-output-filter-functions 'eshell-handle-ansi-color))
+
+     ;; TODO: submit these via M-x report-emacs-bug
      (add-to-list 'eshell-visual-commands "ssh")
      (add-to-list 'eshell-visual-commands "tail")
      (add-to-list 'eshell-command-completions-alist
                   '("gunzip" "gz\\'"))
      (add-to-list 'eshell-command-completions-alist
-                  '("tar" "\\(\\.tar|\\.tgz\\|\\.tar\\.gz\\)\\'"))
-     (add-to-list 'eshell-output-filter-functions 'eshell-handle-ansi-color)))
+                  '("tar" "\\(\\.tar|\\.tgz\\|\\.tar\\.gz\\)\\'"))))
 
 (defun eshell/cds ()
   "Change directory to the project's root."