diff --git a/tools/iperl b/tools/iperl
index 74a05f9..210c798 100755
--- a/tools/iperl
+++ b/tools/iperl
@@ -279,6 +279,18 @@ sub main {
         $attribs->{special_prefixes} = '$@%*&';
         $attribs->{completion_function} = \&complete;
         $attribs->{completion_append_character} = '';
+        my $func = sub {
+            my ($count, $key) = @_;
+            print STDERR "\n$count $key\n";
+            my $line = substr($term->{line_buffer}, 0, $term->{point});
+            if($line =~ m/^[ \t]*$/) {
+                $term->insert_text("\t");
+            } else {
+                $term->call_function('complete', $count, $key);
+                #XYZ this is not the "normal" completion handler
+            }
+        };
+        #$term->add_defun("erik-func", $func, ord("\t"));
     }
 
     # the mighty read-exec-print loop!