diff --git a/mrbgems/mruby-bin-mirb/mrbgem.rake b/mrbgems/mruby-bin-mirb/mrbgem.rake
index 64740035f..49717d9ae 100644
--- a/mrbgems/mruby-bin-mirb/mrbgem.rake
+++ b/mrbgems/mruby-bin-mirb/mrbgem.rake
@@ -1,54 +1,138 @@
+# Environment Variable Configuration:
+#
+# MRUBY_MIRB_READLINE - Control which readline library mirb uses:
+#   auto (default) - Auto-detect: try readline, then edit, then linenoise
+#   readline, gnu  - Force GNU readline only
+#   edit, libedit  - Force libedit only
+#   linenoise      - Force linenoise only
+#   none, off, false, disabled - Use plain input mode (no readline)
+#
+# Example:
+#   MRUBY_MIRB_READLINE=none rake
+#   MRUBY_MIRB_READLINE=linenoise rake
+
 MRuby::Gem::Specification.new('mruby-bin-mirb') do |spec|
   spec.license = 'MIT'
   spec.author  = 'mruby developers'
   spec.summary = 'mirb command'
 
-  if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'readline/readline.h'
-    spec.cc.defines << "MRB_USE_READLINE"
-    spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HEADER='<readline/readline.h>'"
-    spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HISTORY='<readline/history.h>'"
-    if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'termcap.h'
-      if MRUBY_BUILD_HOST_IS_CYGWIN || MRUBY_BUILD_HOST_IS_OPENBSD
-        if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'termcap.h'
-          if MRUBY_BUILD_HOST_IS_CYGWIN then
-            spec.linker.libraries << 'ncurses'
-          else
-            spec.linker.libraries << 'termcap'
+  # Allow user to override readline detection via environment variable
+  readline_mode = (ENV['MRUBY_MIRB_READLINE'] || 'auto').downcase
+
+  case readline_mode
+  when 'auto'
+    # Auto-detect: try readline, then edit, then linenoise (default behavior)
+    if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'readline/readline.h'
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_USE_READLINE"
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HEADER='<readline/readline.h>'"
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HISTORY='<readline/history.h>'"
+      if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'termcap.h'
+        if MRUBY_BUILD_HOST_IS_CYGWIN || MRUBY_BUILD_HOST_IS_OPENBSD
+          if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'termcap.h'
+            if MRUBY_BUILD_HOST_IS_CYGWIN then
+              spec.linker.libraries << 'ncurses'
+            else
+              spec.linker.libraries << 'termcap'
+            end
+          end
+        end
+      end
+      if RUBY_PLATFORM.include?('netbsd')
+        spec.linker.libraries << 'edit'
+      else
+        spec.linker.libraries << 'readline'
+        if RUBY_PLATFORM.include?('darwin')
+          # Workaround to build with Homebrew's readline on Mac (#4537)
+          lib_path = spec.build.cc.header_search_paths.find do |include_path|
+            lib_path = File.expand_path("#{include_path}/../lib")
+            break lib_path if File.exist?("#{lib_path}/libreadline.dylib") ||
+                              File.exist?("#{lib_path}/libreadline.a")
+          end
+          spec.linker.library_paths << lib_path if lib_path
+        elsif spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'curses.h'
+          spec.linker.libraries << 'ncurses'
+          if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'term.h'
+            spec.linker.libraries << 'tinfo'
+          end
+        elsif spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'ncursesw/curses.h'
+          spec.linker.libraries << 'ncursesw'
+          if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'ncursesw/term.h'
+            spec.linker.libraries << 'tinfow'
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    elsif spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'edit/readline/readline.h'
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_USE_READLINE"
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HEADER='<edit/readline/readline.h>'"
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HISTORY='<edit/readline/history.h>'"
+      spec.linker.libraries << "edit"
+    elsif spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'linenoise.h'
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_USE_LINENOISE"
+    end
+
+  when 'readline', 'gnu'
+    # Force GNU readline only
+    if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'readline/readline.h'
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_USE_READLINE"
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HEADER='<readline/readline.h>'"
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HISTORY='<readline/history.h>'"
+      if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'termcap.h'
+        if MRUBY_BUILD_HOST_IS_CYGWIN || MRUBY_BUILD_HOST_IS_OPENBSD
+          if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'termcap.h'
+            if MRUBY_BUILD_HOST_IS_CYGWIN then
+              spec.linker.libraries << 'ncurses'
+            else
+              spec.linker.libraries << 'termcap'
+            end
+          end
+        end
+      end
+      if RUBY_PLATFORM.include?('netbsd')
+        spec.linker.libraries << 'edit'
+      else
+        spec.linker.libraries << 'readline'
+        if RUBY_PLATFORM.include?('darwin')
+          lib_path = spec.build.cc.header_search_paths.find do |include_path|
+            lib_path = File.expand_path("#{include_path}/../lib")
+            break lib_path if File.exist?("#{lib_path}/libreadline.dylib") ||
+                              File.exist?("#{lib_path}/libreadline.a")
+          end
+          spec.linker.library_paths << lib_path if lib_path
+        elsif spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'curses.h'
+          spec.linker.libraries << 'ncurses'
+          if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'term.h'
+            spec.linker.libraries << 'tinfo'
+          end
+        elsif spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'ncursesw/curses.h'
+          spec.linker.libraries << 'ncursesw'
+          if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'ncursesw/term.h'
+            spec.linker.libraries << 'tinfow'
           end
         end
       end
     end
-    if RUBY_PLATFORM.include?('netbsd')
-      spec.linker.libraries << 'edit'
-    else
-      spec.linker.libraries << 'readline'
-      if RUBY_PLATFORM.include?('darwin')
-        # Workaround to build with Homebrew's readline on Mac (#4537)
-        lib_path = spec.build.cc.header_search_paths.find do |include_path|
-          lib_path = File.expand_path("#{include_path}/../lib")
-          break lib_path if File.exist?("#{lib_path}/libreadline.dylib") ||
-                            File.exist?("#{lib_path}/libreadline.a")
-        end
-        spec.linker.library_paths << lib_path if lib_path
-      elsif spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'curses.h'
-        spec.linker.libraries << 'ncurses'
-        if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'term.h'
-          spec.linker.libraries << 'tinfo'
-        end
-      elsif spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'ncursesw/curses.h'
-        spec.linker.libraries << 'ncursesw'
-        if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'ncursesw/term.h'
-          spec.linker.libraries << 'tinfow'
-        end
-      end
+
+  when 'edit', 'libedit'
+    # Force libedit only
+    if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'edit/readline/readline.h'
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_USE_READLINE"
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HEADER='<edit/readline/readline.h>'"
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HISTORY='<edit/readline/history.h>'"
+      spec.linker.libraries << "edit"
     end
-  elsif spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'edit/readline/readline.h'
-    spec.cc.defines << "MRB_USE_READLINE"
-    spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HEADER='<edit/readline/readline.h>'"
-    spec.cc.defines << "MRB_READLINE_HISTORY='<edit/readline/history.h>'"
-    spec.linker.libraries << "edit"
-  elsif spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'linenoise.h'
-    spec.cc.defines << "MRB_USE_LINENOISE"
+
+  when 'linenoise'
+    # Force linenoise only
+    if spec.build.cc.search_header_path 'linenoise.h'
+      spec.cc.defines << "MRB_USE_LINENOISE"
+    end
+
+  when 'none', 'off', 'false', 'disabled'
+    # Disable readline - use plain input mode
+
+  else
+    fail "Invalid MRUBY_MIRB_READLINE='#{readline_mode}'. " \
+         "Valid values: auto, readline, gnu, edit, libedit, linenoise, none, off, false, disabled"
   end
 
   spec.bins = %w(mirb)