diff --git a/src/inventory.cpp b/src/inventory.cpp
index a7ef5d0542694..822b24dd7ba33 100644
--- a/src/inventory.cpp
+++ b/src/inventory.cpp
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ struct itype;
 const invlet_wrapper
 inv_chars( "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ!\"#&()+.:;=@[\\]^_{|}" );
 
+// chars to skip for auto inventory
+const std::string
+inv_chars_no_auto("hjkl");
+
 bool invlet_wrapper::valid( const int invlet ) const
 {
     if( invlet > std::numeric_limits<char>::max() || invlet < std::numeric_limits<char>::min() ) {
@@ -1041,6 +1045,10 @@ void inventory::assign_empty_invlet( item &it, const Character &p, const bool fo
                 // don't overwrite assigned keys
                 continue;
             }
+            if( inv_chars_no_auto.find( static_cast<char>( inv_char ) ) != std::string::npos ) {
+               // don't auto-assign certain keys
+               continue;
+            }
             if( !cur_inv[inv_char] ) {
                 it.invlet = inv_char;
                 return;