diff --git a/esp8266/Makefile b/esp8266/Makefile
index 04a356a4bf9d5a57c2dad0de3347e93f98a07446..21ed7f417e7329c6723c30c19e9e767d78666333 100644
--- a/esp8266/Makefile
+++ b/esp8266/Makefile
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ endif
 SRC_C = \
 	strtoll.c \
 	main.c \
+	help.c \
 	esp_mphal.c \
 	gccollect.c \
 	lexerstr32.c \
@@ -116,6 +117,7 @@ LIB_SRC_C = $(addprefix lib/,\
 	netutils/netutils.c \
 	timeutils/timeutils.c \
 	utils/pyexec.c \
+	utils/pyhelp.c \
 	utils/printf.c \
 	fatfs/ff.c \
 	fatfs/option/ccsbcs.c \
diff --git a/esp8266/help.c b/esp8266/help.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b98894ec58464ac5b4df3db80792c8668dd09b8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esp8266/help.c
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+/*
+ * This file is part of the MicroPython project, http://micropython.org/
+ *
+ * The MIT License (MIT)
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Damien P. George
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#include "lib/utils/pyhelp.h"
+
+STATIC const char *help_text =
+"Welcome to MicroPython!\n"
+"\n"
+"For online docs please visit http://docs.micropython.org/en/latest/esp8266/ .\n"
+"To get diagnostic information to include in bug reports, execute 'import port_diag'.\n"
+"\n"
+"Control commands:\n"
+"  CTRL-A        -- on a blank line, enter raw REPL mode\n"
+"  CTRL-B        -- on a blank line, enter normal REPL mode\n"
+"  CTRL-C        -- interrupt a running program\n"
+"  CTRL-D        -- on a blank line, do a soft reset of the board\n"
+"  CTRL-E        -- on a blank line, enter paste mode\n"
+"\n"
+"For further help on a specific object, type help(obj)\n"
+;
+
+STATIC mp_obj_t builtin_help(uint n_args, const mp_obj_t *args) {
+    if (n_args == 0) {
+        // print a general help message
+        printf("%s", help_text);
+
+    } else {
+        // try to print something sensible about the given object
+        pyhelp_print_obj(args[0]);
+    }
+
+    return mp_const_none;
+}
+MP_DEFINE_CONST_FUN_OBJ_VAR_BETWEEN(mp_builtin_help_obj, 0, 1, builtin_help);
diff --git a/esp8266/mpconfigport.h b/esp8266/mpconfigport.h
index 5de9de2bd11e1c989c2ecfae6f3b21b55ca1d5f9..c851f90f6a8e8c81768e6f192a9c611f9ae769b5 100644
--- a/esp8266/mpconfigport.h
+++ b/esp8266/mpconfigport.h
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ typedef uint32_t sys_prot_t; // for modlwip
 
 // extra built in names to add to the global namespace
 #define MICROPY_PORT_BUILTINS \
+    { MP_OBJ_NEW_QSTR(MP_QSTR_help), (mp_obj_t)&mp_builtin_help_obj }, \
     { MP_OBJ_NEW_QSTR(MP_QSTR_input), (mp_obj_t)&mp_builtin_input_obj }, \
     { MP_OBJ_NEW_QSTR(MP_QSTR_open), (mp_obj_t)&mp_builtin_open_obj },