diff --git a/kitty/history.c b/kitty/history.c
index 1facaa556..e20749278 100644
--- a/kitty/history.c
+++ b/kitty/history.c
@@ -252,6 +252,19 @@ historybuf_add_line(HistoryBuf *self, const Line *line, ANSIBuf *as_ansi_buf) {
     *attrptr(self, idx) = (line->continued & CONTINUED_MASK) | (line->has_dirty_text ? TEXT_DIRTY_MASK : 0);
 }
 
+bool
+historybuf_pop_line(HistoryBuf *self, Line *line) {
+    if (self->count <= 0)
+      return false;
+
+    index_type idx = (self->start_of_data + self->count-1) % self->ynum;
+    init_line(self, idx, line);
+
+    self->count--;
+
+    return true;
+}
+
 static PyObject*
 line(HistoryBuf *self, PyObject *val) {
 #define line_doc "Return the line with line number val. This buffer grows upwards, i.e. 0 is the most recently added line"
diff --git a/kitty/lineops.h b/kitty/lineops.h
index 5f350d283..c1ba8c24c 100644
--- a/kitty/lineops.h
+++ b/kitty/lineops.h
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ void linebuf_mark_line_as_not_continued(LineBuf *self, index_type y);
 unsigned int linebuf_char_width_at(LineBuf *self, index_type x, index_type y);
 void linebuf_refresh_sprite_positions(LineBuf *self);
 void historybuf_add_line(HistoryBuf *self, const Line *line, ANSIBuf*);
+bool historybuf_pop_line(HistoryBuf *, Line *);
 void historybuf_rewrap(HistoryBuf *self, HistoryBuf *other, ANSIBuf*);
 void historybuf_init_line(HistoryBuf *self, index_type num, Line *l);
 CPUCell* historybuf_cpu_cells(HistoryBuf *self, index_type num);