diff --git a/construct/console.cc b/construct/console.cc
index 2a6d97c8d..270b8dbad 100644
--- a/construct/console.cc
+++ b/construct/console.cc
@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ construct::console::queue;
 decltype(construct::console::quit_when_done)
 construct::console::quit_when_done;
 
+decltype(construct::console::interactive_when_done)
+construct::console::interactive_when_done;
+
 bool
 construct::console::spawn()
 {
@@ -195,10 +198,13 @@ construct::console::handle_queued()
 		if(!next_command())
 			break;
 
-	if(!quit_when_done)
+	if(run::level != run::level::RUN)
 		return true;
 
-	if(run::level != run::level::RUN)
+	if(interactive_when_done)
+		return false;
+
+	if(!quit_when_done)
 		return true;
 
 	static ircd::ios::descriptor descriptor
diff --git a/construct/console.h b/construct/console.h
index 4ae1c9a7a..a87de64bc 100644
--- a/construct/console.h
+++ b/construct/console.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ struct construct::console
 	static std::once_flag seen_message;
 	static std::deque<std::string> queue;
 	static bool quit_when_done;
+	static bool interactive_when_done;
 
 	std::string line;
 	std::string record_path;
diff --git a/construct/construct.cc b/construct/construct.cc
index b573b1fa7..5c32d134f 100644
--- a/construct/construct.cc
+++ b/construct/construct.cc
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ noexcept try
 	// without having to send a ctrl-c for it, that is provided here. This does
 	// not actually take effect until it's processed in the ios.run() below.
 	if(cmdline || !execute.empty())
+		construct::console::interactive_when_done = cmdline,
 		construct::console::spawn();
 
 	// If the user wants to immediately process console commands