diff --git a/src/SMAPI.Installer/unix-install.sh b/src/SMAPI.Installer/unix-install.sh
index e3a5d8cc..6d0c86ce 100644
--- a/src/SMAPI.Installer/unix-install.sh
+++ b/src/SMAPI.Installer/unix-install.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ elif type type >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     COMMAND="type"
 fi
 
+# if $TERM is not set to xterm, mono will bail out when attempting to write to the console.
+export TERM=xterm
+
 # validate Mono & run installer
 if $COMMAND mono >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     mono internal/unix-install.exe