diff --git a/deck/pager.py b/deck/pager.py
index 48ceb56..c27ae65 100644
--- a/deck/pager.py
+++ b/deck/pager.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import os
 from deck.input import input
 
 # detect terminal size
-TERM_ROWS = os.getenv('TERM_ROWS', 24)
+TERM_ROWS = os.getenv('TERM_ROWS', 19)
 TERM_COLS = os.getenv('TERM_COLS', 53)
 try: # if running on CPython
   TERM_COLS, TERM_ROWS = os.get_terminal_size()