diff --git a/containers/jug/eic-env.sh b/containers/jug/eic-env.sh
index 28d42a50d8c2e01ea70512d64f0358612110ca51..77b3ca193010dea78b3e260d80c12d991ae31e57 100755
--- a/containers/jug/eic-env.sh
+++ b/containers/jug/eic-env.sh
@@ -8,11 +8,22 @@ export PS1='eic-shell> \[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[
 export LS_COLORS='rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33'
 export GREP_OPTIONS='--color=auto'
 
+## redefine ls and less as functions, as this is something we
+## can import into our plain bash --norc --noprofile session
+## (aliases cannot be transferred to a child shell)
 function ls {
-    /bin/ls --color=auto
-  }
+  /bin/ls --color=auto
+}
 function less {
-    /usr/bin/less -RAW_CONTROL_CHARS
-  }
-export -f ls
-export -f less
+  /usr/bin/less -R
+}
+MYSHELL=$(ps -p $$ | awk '{print($4);}' | tail -n1)
+## only export the functions for bash, as this does not work
+## in all shells and we only care about bash here. Note that
+## the singularity startup runs in plain sh which requires the
+## if statement
+if [ "$MYSHELL" == "bash" ]; then
+  export -f ls
+  export -f less
+fi
+unset MYSHELL