diff --git a/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/execute.R b/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/execute.R
index 484e32d..26e2fb9 100644
--- a/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/execute.R
+++ b/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/execute.R
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ handle_error <- function(e) {
 }
 
 handle_value <- function(execution_counter) function(obj, visible) {
+  set_last_value(obj)
   if (!visible) return()
 
   # only doing text-plain for now
diff --git a/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/routines.R b/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/routines.R
index 4d57a75..57ad3cd 100644
--- a/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/routines.R
+++ b/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/routines.R
@@ -12,5 +12,5 @@ publish_stream <- function(name, text) {
 }
 
 display_data <- function(data = NULL, metadata = NULL) {
-  .Call("xeusr_display_data", jsonlite::toJSON(data), jsonlite::toJSON(metadata), PACKAGE = "(embedding)")
+  invisible(.Call("xeusr_display_data", jsonlite::toJSON(data), jsonlite::toJSON(metadata), PACKAGE = "(embedding)"))
 }
diff --git a/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/setup.R b/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/setup.R
index 3781436..143832f 100644
--- a/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/setup.R
+++ b/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/setup.R
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ local({
     "..", "share", "jupyter", "kernels", "xr", "resources"
   )
 
-  files <- setdiff(list.files(here), "setup.R")
+  files <- setdiff(list.files(here), c("setup.R", "routines.R"))
 
   xeus_env$.xeus_call <- function(fn, ...) {
     get(fn, envir = xeus_private_env)(...)
@@ -26,5 +26,6 @@ local({
   for (f in files) {
     sys.source(file.path(here, f), envir = xeus_private_env)
   }
+  sys.source(file.path(here, "routines.R"), envir = xeus_env)
 
 })
diff --git a/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/utils.R b/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/utils.R
index 0f62440..8cee32f 100644
--- a/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/utils.R
+++ b/share/jupyter/kernels/xr/resources/utils.R
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@ namedlist <- function() {
     `names<-`(list(), character())
 }
 
+set_last_value <- function(obj) {
+    unlockBinding(".Last.value", .BaseNamespaceEnv)
+    assign(".Last.value", obj, .BaseNamespaceEnv)
+    lockBinding(".Last.value", .BaseNamespaceEnv)
+}
+
 # borrowed from IRkernel
 plot_builds_upon <- function(prev, current) {
     if (is.null(prev)) {