diff --git a/Lib/_pyrepl/pager.py b/Lib/_pyrepl/pager.py
index 66dcd99111adfc..1fddc63e3ee3ad 100644
--- a/Lib/_pyrepl/pager.py
+++ b/Lib/_pyrepl/pager.py
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ def get_pager() -> Pager:
         return plain_pager
     if sys.platform == 'win32':
         return lambda text, title='': tempfile_pager(plain(text), 'more <')
+    if hasattr(os, 'system') and os.system('(pager) 2>/dev/null') == 0:
+        return lambda text, title='': pipe_pager(text, 'pager', title)
     if hasattr(os, 'system') and os.system('(less) 2>/dev/null') == 0:
         return lambda text, title='': pipe_pager(text, 'less', title)
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2024-09-19-13-17-31.gh-issue-122878.4iFpsB.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2024-09-19-13-17-31.gh-issue-122878.4iFpsB.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..85dd0fd769be68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2024-09-19-13-17-31.gh-issue-122878.4iFpsB.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Use the ``pager`` binary, if available (e.g. on Debian and derivatives), to display REPL ``help()``.