diff --git a/Lib/_pyrepl/unix_console.py b/Lib/_pyrepl/unix_console.py
index 96379bc20f3357..684cb0378ab780 100644
--- a/Lib/_pyrepl/unix_console.py
+++ b/Lib/_pyrepl/unix_console.py
@@ -238,8 +238,9 @@ def refresh(self, screen, c_xy):
         if not self.__gone_tall:
             while len(self.screen) < min(len(screen), self.height):
                 self.__hide_cursor()
-                self.__move(0, len(self.screen) - 1)
-                self.__write("\n")
+                if len(self.screen):
+                    self.__move(0, len(self.screen) - 1)
+                    self.__write("\n")
                 self.posxy = 0, len(self.screen)
                 self.screen.append("")
         else:
diff --git a/Lib/_pyrepl/windows_console.py b/Lib/_pyrepl/windows_console.py
index 47fd3fd8f8909b..0ac9b5c9fe2bdd 100644
--- a/Lib/_pyrepl/windows_console.py
+++ b/Lib/_pyrepl/windows_console.py
@@ -170,8 +170,9 @@ def refresh(self, screen: list[str], c_xy: tuple[int, int]) -> None:
 
         while len(self.screen) < min(len(screen), self.height):
             self._hide_cursor()
-            self._move_relative(0, len(self.screen) - 1)
-            self.__write("\n")
+            if len(self.screen):
+                self._move_relative(0, len(self.screen) - 1)
+                self.__write("\n")
             self.posxy = 0, len(self.screen)
             self.screen.append("")