diff --git a/IPython/testing/tools.py b/IPython/testing/tools.py
index 02cbe0d..278de6e 100644
--- a/IPython/testing/tools.py
+++ b/IPython/testing/tools.py
@@ -167,7 +167,8 @@ def default_config():
     config.TerminalInteractiveShell.colors = 'NoColor'
     config.TerminalTerminalInteractiveShell.term_title = False,
     config.TerminalInteractiveShell.autocall = 0
-    config.HistoryManager.hist_file = u':memory:'
+    config.HistoryManager.hist_file = u'test_hist.sqlite'
+    config.HistoryManager.db_cache_size = 10000
     return config