diff --git a/libc/vga/tty.c b/libc/vga/tty.c
index 76d6c7f96..84bac011f 100644
--- a/libc/vga/tty.c
+++ b/libc/vga/tty.c
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ static wchar_t *Wcs(struct Tty *tty)
 
 void _StartTty(struct Tty *tty, unsigned short yn, unsigned short xn,
                unsigned short starty, unsigned short startx,
-               void *vccs, wchar_t *wcs) {
+               unsigned char chr_ht, void *vccs, wchar_t *wcs) {
   struct VgaTextCharCell *ccs = vccs;
   memset(tty, 0, sizeof(struct Tty));
   SetYn(tty, yn);
@@ -103,8 +103,11 @@ void _StartTty(struct Tty *tty, unsigned short yn, unsigned short xn,
     starty = yn - 1;
   if (startx >= xn)
     startx = xn - 1;
+  if (chr_ht > 32)
+    chr_ht = 32;
   tty->y = starty;
   tty->x = startx;
+  tty->chr_ht = chr_ht;
   if (SetWcs(tty, wcs)) {
     size_t n = (size_t)yn * xn, i;
     for (i = 0; i < n; ++i)
@@ -1081,10 +1084,17 @@ static void TtyEscAppend(struct Tty *tty, char c) {
 }
 
 static void TtyUpdateHwCursor(struct Tty *tty) {
+  unsigned char start = tty->chr_ht - 2, end = tty->chr_ht - 1;
   unsigned short pos = tty->y * Xn(tty) + tty->x;
-  outb(CRTPORT, 0x0e);
+  if ((tty->conf & kTtyNocursor))
+    start |= 1 << 5;
+  outb(CRTPORT, 0x0A);
+  outb(CRTPORT + 1, start);
+  outb(CRTPORT, 0x0B);
+  outb(CRTPORT + 1, end);
+  outb(CRTPORT, 0x0E);
   outb(CRTPORT + 1, (unsigned char)(pos >> 8));
-  outb(CRTPORT, 0x0f);
+  outb(CRTPORT, 0x0F);
   outb(CRTPORT + 1, (unsigned char)pos);
 }
 
diff --git a/libc/vga/vga.internal.h b/libc/vga/vga.internal.h
index 134303139..fe2b8a921 100644
--- a/libc/vga/vga.internal.h
+++ b/libc/vga/vga.internal.h
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ struct Tty {
   uint32_t u8;
   uint32_t n8;
   uint32_t pr;
-  uint8_t fg, bg;
+  uint8_t fg, bg, chr_ht;
   uint32_t conf;
   unsigned short savey, savex;
   struct VgaTextCharCell *ccs;
@@ -134,7 +134,8 @@ struct Tty {
 };
 
 void _StartTty(struct Tty *, unsigned short, unsigned short,
-               unsigned short, unsigned short, void *, wchar_t *);
+               unsigned short, unsigned short, unsigned char,
+               void *, wchar_t *);
 ssize_t _TtyRead(struct Tty *, void *, size_t);
 ssize_t _TtyWrite(struct Tty *, const void *, size_t);
 ssize_t _TtyWriteInput(struct Tty *, const void *, size_t);
diff --git a/libc/vga/writev-vga.c b/libc/vga/writev-vga.c
index 854596441..6df7f93c8 100644
--- a/libc/vga/writev-vga.c
+++ b/libc/vga/writev-vga.c
@@ -58,15 +58,23 @@ ssize_t sys_writev_vga(struct Fd *fd, const struct iovec *iov, int iovlen) {
 
 __attribute__((__constructor__)) static textstartup void _vga_init(void) {
   void * const vid_buf = (void *)(BANE + 0xb8000ull);
-  /* Get the initial cursor position from the BIOS data area. */
+  /*
+   * Get the initial cursor position from the BIOS data area.  Also get
+   * the height (in scan lines) of each character; this is used to set the
+   * cursor shape.
+   */
   typedef struct {
     unsigned char col, row;
   } bios_curs_pos_t;
   bios_curs_pos_t pos = *(bios_curs_pos_t *)(BANE + 0x0450ull);
+  uint8_t chr_ht = *(uint8_t *)(BANE + 0x0485ull),
+          chr_ht_hi = *(uint8_t *)(BANE + 0x0486ull);
+  if (chr_ht_hi != 0 || chr_ht > 32)
+    chr_ht = 32;
   /*
-   * Initialize our tty structure from the current screen contents & current
-   * cursor position.
+   * Initialize our tty structure from the current screen contents, current
+   * cursor position, & character height.
    */
   _StartTty(&vga_tty, VGA_TTY_HEIGHT, VGA_TTY_WIDTH, pos.row, pos.col,
-            vid_buf, vga_wcs);
+            chr_ht, vid_buf, vga_wcs);
 }