diff --git a/datafusion-cli/examples/cli-session-context.rs b/datafusion-cli/examples/cli-session-context.rs
index 6095072163870..0300e9118f54a 100644
--- a/datafusion-cli/examples/cli-session-context.rs
+++ b/datafusion-cli/examples/cli-session-context.rs
@@ -94,5 +94,8 @@ pub async fn main() {
         instrumented_registry: Arc::new(InstrumentedObjectStoreRegistry::new()),
     };
 
-    exec_from_repl(&my_ctx, &mut print_options).await.unwrap();
+    let repl_options = Default::default();
+    exec_from_repl(&my_ctx, &mut print_options, &repl_options)
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
 }
diff --git a/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs b/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs
index bc2c15f48debb..3846341c429c9 100644
--- a/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs
+++ b/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 use crate::cli_context::CliSessionContext;
 use crate::helper::split_from_semicolon;
 use crate::print_format::PrintFormat;
+use crate::repl_options::ReplOptions;
 use crate::{
     command::{Command, OutputFormat},
     helper::CliHelper,
@@ -129,13 +130,14 @@ pub async fn exec_from_files(
 pub async fn exec_from_repl(
     ctx: &dyn CliSessionContext,
     print_options: &mut PrintOptions,
+    repl_options: &ReplOptions,
 ) -> rustyline::Result<()> {
     let mut rl = Editor::new()?;
     rl.set_helper(Some(CliHelper::new(
         &ctx.task_ctx().session_config().options().sql_parser.dialect,
         print_options.color,
     )));
-    rl.load_history(".history").ok();
+    rl.load_history(&repl_options.history_file).ok();
 
     loop {
         match rl.readline("> ") {
@@ -210,7 +212,7 @@ pub async fn exec_from_repl(
         }
     }
 
-    rl.save_history(".history")
+    rl.save_history(&repl_options.history_file)
 }
 
 pub(super) async fn exec_and_print(
diff --git a/datafusion-cli/src/lib.rs b/datafusion-cli/src/lib.rs
index f0b0bc23fd73d..5182a7600ae79 100644
--- a/datafusion-cli/src/lib.rs
+++ b/datafusion-cli/src/lib.rs
@@ -34,3 +34,4 @@ pub mod object_storage;
 pub mod pool_type;
 pub mod print_format;
 pub mod print_options;
+pub mod repl_options;
diff --git a/datafusion-cli/src/main.rs b/datafusion-cli/src/main.rs
index 20a2537d7c10c..417cb9ed14b45 100644
--- a/datafusion-cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/datafusion-cli/src/main.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::env;
 use std::num::NonZeroUsize;
-use std::path::Path;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::process::ExitCode;
 use std::sync::{Arc, LazyLock};
 
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ use datafusion_cli::{
     pool_type::PoolType,
     print_format::PrintFormat,
     print_options::{MaxRows, PrintOptions},
+    repl_options::ReplOptions,
 };
 
 use clap::Parser;
@@ -109,6 +110,13 @@ struct Args {
     )]
     rc: Option<Vec<String>>,
 
+    #[clap(
+        long,
+        help = "Path to the file used to persist interactive shell history. Overrides DATAFUSION_HISTORY_FILE if set, default to .history",
+        value_parser(parse_valid_history_file)
+    )]
+    history_file: Option<String>,
+
     #[clap(long, value_enum, default_value_t = PrintFormat::Automatic)]
     format: PrintFormat,
 
@@ -308,8 +316,10 @@ async fn main_inner() -> Result<()> {
         if !rc.is_empty() {
             exec::exec_from_files(&ctx, rc, &print_options).await?;
         }
+        let repl_options = get_repl_options(&args.history_file);
+
         // TODO maybe we can have thiserror for cli but for now let's keep it simple
-        return exec::exec_from_repl(&ctx, &mut print_options)
+        return exec::exec_from_repl(&ctx, &mut print_options, &repl_options)
             .await
             .map_err(|e| DataFusionError::External(Box::new(e)));
     }
@@ -379,6 +389,25 @@ fn parse_valid_data_dir(dir: &str) -> Result<String, String> {
     }
 }
 
+fn parse_valid_history_file(path: &str) -> Result<String, String> {
+    let path = Path::new(path);
+    if path.is_dir() {
+        return Err(format!(
+            "Invalid history file '{}': is a directory",
+            path.display()
+        ));
+    }
+    match path.parent() {
+        Some(parent) if !parent.as_os_str().is_empty() && !parent.is_dir() => {
+            Err(format!(
+                "Invalid history file '{}': parent directory does not exist",
+                path.display()
+            ))
+        }
+        _ => Ok(path.to_string_lossy().into_owned()),
+    }
+}
+
 fn parse_batch_size(size: &str) -> Result<usize, String> {
     match size.parse::<usize>() {
         Ok(size) if size > 0 => Ok(size),
@@ -394,6 +423,16 @@ fn parse_command(command: &str) -> Result<String, String> {
     }
 }
 
+fn get_repl_options(history_file: &Option<String>) -> ReplOptions {
+    if let Some(history_file) = history_file {
+        ReplOptions {
+            history_file: PathBuf::from(history_file),
+        }
+    } else {
+        Default::default()
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
 enum ByteUnit {
     Byte,
diff --git a/datafusion-cli/src/repl_options.rs b/datafusion-cli/src/repl_options.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..beef2a9820462
--- /dev/null
+++ b/datafusion-cli/src/repl_options.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+use std::env;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct ReplOptions {
+    pub history_file: PathBuf,
+}
+
+impl Default for ReplOptions {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        let history_file = env::var_os("DATAFUSION_HISTORY_FILE")
+            .map(PathBuf::from)
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| PathBuf::from(".history"));
+        Self { history_file }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/docs/source/user-guide/cli/usage.md b/docs/source/user-guide/cli/usage.md
index 75c6698f007a5..a4fe62f17f29b 100644
--- a/docs/source/user-guide/cli/usage.md
+++ b/docs/source/user-guide/cli/usage.md
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ Options:
           Execute commands from file(s), then exit
   -r, --rc [<RC>...]
           Run the provided files on startup instead of ~/.datafusionrc
+      --history-file <HISTORY_FILE>
+          Path to the file used to persist interactive shell history. Overrides DATAFUSION_HISTORY_FILE if set, default to .history
       --format <FORMAT>
           [default: automatic] [possible values: csv, tsv, table, json, nd-json, automatic]
   -q, --quiet