diff --git a/src/shims/env.rs b/src/shims/env.rs
index 5a5dffa1d09b..d0b5abbaf181 100644
--- a/src/shims/env.rs
+++ b/src/shims/env.rs
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@ pub struct EnvVars {
 impl EnvVars {
     pub(crate) fn init<'mir, 'tcx>(
         ecx: &mut InterpCx<'mir, 'tcx, Evaluator<'tcx>>,
-        excluded_env_vars: Vec<String>,
+        mut excluded_env_vars: Vec<String>,
     ) {
+        // Exclude TERM var to avoid calls to the file system
+        excluded_env_vars.push("TERM".to_owned());
         if ecx.machine.communicate {
             for (name, value) in std::env::vars() {
                 if !excluded_env_vars.contains(&name) {