diff --git a/Lib/_pyrepl/unix_console.py b/Lib/_pyrepl/unix_console.py
index 96379bc20f3357..f0a5d8aa5cbc61 100644
--- a/Lib/_pyrepl/unix_console.py
+++ b/Lib/_pyrepl/unix_console.py
@@ -256,7 +256,9 @@ def refresh(self, screen, c_xy):
 
         # we make sure the cursor is on the screen, and that we're
         # using all of the screen if we can
-        if cy < offset:
+        if len(screen) < height:
+            offset = 0
+        elif cy < offset:
             offset = cy
         elif cy >= offset + height:
             offset = cy - height + 1