diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a30c51ac6..71a5d9b2d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -759,6 +759,12 @@ case "${with_readline}" in
 "none")
     ;;
 "readline")
+    # Prefer GNU readline installed by Homebrew.
+    if test "${OPENTHREAD_TARGET}" = darwin && brew --prefix readline > /dev/null; then
+        LDFLAGS="-L$(brew --prefix readline)/lib ${LDFLAGS}"
+        CPPFLAGS="-I$(brew --prefix readline)/include ${CPPFLAGS}"
+        PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$(brew --prefix)/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH"
+    fi
     AC_CHECK_LIB([readline], [rl_callback_handler_install])
     ;;
 "edit")
diff --git a/src/posix/Makefile-posix b/src/posix/Makefile-posix
index 6db753fd0..40bc891d3 100644
--- a/src/posix/Makefile-posix
+++ b/src/posix/Makefile-posix
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ LEGACY                               ?= 1
 LINK_RAW                             ?= 0
 MAC_FILTER                           ?= 1
 MTD_NETDIAG                          ?= 1
-READLINE                             ?= edit
+READLINE                             ?= readline
 REFERENCE_DEVICE                     ?= 1
 SERVICE                              ?= 1
 SNTP_CLIENT                          ?= 1
diff --git a/src/posix/console_cli.c b/src/posix/console_cli.c
index 6d0082b5e..b40844f1f 100644
--- a/src/posix/console_cli.c
+++ b/src/posix/console_cli.c
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@
 
 #include "openthread/config.h"
 
+#include <assert.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
 #if HAVE_LIBEDIT || HAVE_LIBREADLINE
 #if HAVE_LIBEDIT
 #include <editline/readline.h>
@@ -40,11 +45,6 @@
 #error "Missing readline library"
 #endif
 
-#include <assert.h>
-#include <stdio.h>
-#include <string.h>
-#include <unistd.h>
-
 #include <openthread/cli.h>
 
 #include "openthread-core-config.h"
diff --git a/src/posix/main.c b/src/posix/main.c
index 18ca721ae..00da24ae4 100644
--- a/src/posix/main.c
+++ b/src/posix/main.c
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@
 #include <openthread/ncp.h>
 #elif OPENTHREAD_POSIX_APP_TYPE == OPENTHREAD_POSIX_APP_TYPE_CLI
 #include <openthread/cli.h>
-#if HAVE_LIBEDIT || HAVE_LIBREADLINE
+#if (HAVE_LIBEDIT || HAVE_LIBREADLINE) && !OPENTHREAD_ENABLE_POSIX_APP_DAEMON
+#define OPENTHREAD_USE_CONSOLE 1
 #include "console_cli.h"
 #endif
 #else
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 #if OPENTHREAD_ENABLE_PLATFORM_NETIF
     otSysInitNetif(instance);
 #endif
-#if HAVE_LIBEDIT || HAVE_LIBREADLINE
+#if OPENTHREAD_USE_CONSOLE
     otxConsoleInit(instance);
 #else
     otCliUartInit(instance);
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         mainloop.mTimeout.tv_sec  = 10;
         mainloop.mTimeout.tv_usec = 0;
 
-#if OPENTHREAD_POSIX_APP_TYPE == OPENTHREAD_POSIX_APP_TYPE_CLI && (HAVE_LIBEDIT || HAVE_LIBREADLINE)
+#if OPENTHREAD_USE_CONSOLE
         otxConsoleUpdate(&mainloop);
 #endif
 
@@ -125,7 +126,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         if (otSysMainloopPoll(&mainloop) >= 0)
         {
             otSysMainloopProcess(instance, &mainloop);
-#if OPENTHREAD_POSIX_APP_TYPE == OPENTHREAD_POSIX_APP_TYPE_CLI && (HAVE_LIBEDIT || HAVE_LIBREADLINE)
+#if OPENTHREAD_USE_CONSOLE
             otxConsoleProcess(&mainloop);
 #endif
         }
@@ -136,7 +137,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         }
     }
 
-#if OPENTHREAD_POSIX_APP_TYPE == OPENTHREAD_POSIX_APP_TYPE_CLI && (HAVE_LIBEDIT || HAVE_LIBREADLINE)
+#if OPENTHREAD_USE_CONSOLE
     otxConsoleDeinit();
 #endif
     otInstanceFinalize(instance);