diff --git a/kittens/ssh/config.py b/kittens/ssh/config.py
index 00b739df1..0fefa83e6 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/config.py
+++ b/kittens/ssh/config.py
@@ -10,17 +10,50 @@ from kitty.conf.utils import (
 )
 from kitty.constants import config_dir
 
-from .options.types import Options as SSHOptions, defaults
+from .options.types import Options as SSHOptions, defaults, option_names
 
 SYSTEM_CONF = '/etc/xdg/kitty/ssh.conf'
 defconf = os.path.join(config_dir, 'ssh.conf')
 
 
+def options_for_host(hostname: str, per_host_opts: Dict[str, SSHOptions]) -> SSHOptions:
+    import fnmatch
+    matches = []
+    for pat, opts in per_host_opts.items():
+        if fnmatch.fnmatchcase(hostname, pat):
+            matches.append(opts)
+    if not matches:
+        return SSHOptions({})
+    base = matches[0]
+    rest = matches[1:]
+    if rest:
+        ans = SSHOptions(base._asdict())
+        for name in option_names:
+            for opts in rest:
+                val = getattr(opts, name)
+                if isinstance(val, dict):
+                    getattr(ans, name).update(val)
+                else:
+                    setattr(ans, name, val)
+    else:
+        ans = base
+    return ans
+
+
 def load_config(*paths: str, overrides: Optional[Iterable[str]] = None) -> Dict[str, SSHOptions]:
     from .options.parse import (
         create_result_dict, merge_result_dicts, parse_conf_item
     )
-    from .options.utils import init_results_dict
+    from .options.utils import get_per_hosts_dict, init_results_dict, first_seen_positions
+
+    def merge_dicts(base: Dict[str, Any], vals: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        base_phd = get_per_hosts_dict(base)
+        vals_phd = get_per_hosts_dict(vals)
+        for hostname in base_phd:
+            vals_phd[hostname] = merge_result_dicts(base_phd[hostname], vals_phd.get(hostname, {}))
+        ans: Dict[str, Any] = vals_phd.pop(vals['hostname'])
+        ans['per_host_dicts'] = vals_phd
+        return ans
 
     def parse_config(lines: Iterable[str]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         ans: Dict[str, Any] = init_results_dict(create_result_dict())
@@ -28,13 +61,18 @@ def load_config(*paths: str, overrides: Optional[Iterable[str]] = None) -> Dict[
         return ans
 
     overrides = tuple(overrides) if overrides is not None else ()
-    opts_dict, paths = _load_config(defaults, parse_config, merge_result_dicts, *paths, overrides=overrides)
+    first_seen_positions.clear()
+    first_seen_positions['*'] = 0
+    opts_dict, paths = _load_config(
+        defaults, parse_config, merge_dicts, *paths, overrides=overrides, initialize_defaults=init_results_dict)
     ans: Dict[str, SSHOptions] = {}
-    for hostname, host_opts_dict in opts_dict['per_host_dicts'].items():
-        opts = SSHOptions(host_opts_dict)
+    phd = get_per_hosts_dict(opts_dict)
+    for hostname in sorted(phd, key=first_seen_positions.__getitem__):
+        opts = SSHOptions(phd[hostname])
         opts.config_paths = paths
         opts.config_overrides = overrides
         ans[hostname] = opts
+    first_seen_positions.clear()
     return ans
 
 
diff --git a/kittens/ssh/options/definition.py b/kittens/ssh/options/definition.py
index 8705b4190..49627eaa8 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/options/definition.py
+++ b/kittens/ssh/options/definition.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ agr = definition.add_group
 egr = definition.end_group
 opt = definition.add_option
 
-agr('global', 'Global')  # {{{
+agr('host', 'Host environment')  # {{{
 
 opt('hostname', '*', option_type='hostname',
     long_text='''
@@ -26,4 +26,23 @@ against is the hostname used by the remote computer, not the name you pass
 to SSH to connect to it.
 '''
     )
+
+opt('+env', '',
+    option_type='env',
+    add_to_default=False,
+    long_text='''
+Specify environment variables to set on the remote host. Note that
+environment variables can refer to each other, so if you use::
+
+    env MYVAR1=a
+    env MYVAR2=$MYVAR1/$HOME/b
+
+The value of MYVAR2 will be :code:`a/<path to home directory>/b`. Using
+:code:`VAR=` will set it to the empty string and using just :code:`VAR`
+will delete the variable from the child process' environment. The definitions
+are processed alphabetically.
+'''
+    )
+
+
 egr()  # }}}
diff --git a/kittens/ssh/options/parse.py b/kittens/ssh/options/parse.py
index 53a106e51..ffb003d28 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/options/parse.py
+++ b/kittens/ssh/options/parse.py
@@ -1,18 +1,23 @@
 # generated by gen-config.py DO NOT edit
 
 import typing
-from kittens.ssh.options.utils import hostname
+from kittens.ssh.options.utils import env, hostname
 from kitty.conf.utils import merge_dicts
 
 
 class Parser:
 
+    def env(self, val: str, ans: typing.Dict[str, typing.Any]) -> None:
+        for k, v in env(val, ans["env"]):
+            ans["env"][k] = v
+
     def hostname(self, val: str, ans: typing.Dict[str, typing.Any]) -> None:
         hostname(val, ans)
 
 
 def create_result_dict() -> typing.Dict[str, typing.Any]:
     return {
+        'env': {},
     }
 
 
diff --git a/kittens/ssh/options/types.py b/kittens/ssh/options/types.py
index b19cfd623..7f05263c7 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/options/types.py
+++ b/kittens/ssh/options/types.py
@@ -4,11 +4,12 @@ import typing
 
 
 option_names = (  # {{{
- 'hostname',)  # }}}
+ 'env', 'hostname')  # }}}
 
 
 class Options:
     hostname: str = '*'
+    env: typing.Dict[str, str] = {}
     config_paths: typing.Tuple[str, ...] = ()
     config_overrides: typing.Tuple[str, ...] = ()
 
@@ -59,3 +60,4 @@ class Options:
 
 
 defaults = Options()
+defaults.env = {}
diff --git a/kittens/ssh/options/utils.py b/kittens/ssh/options/utils.py
index 280c4e700..490bdd96f 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/options/utils.py
+++ b/kittens/ssh/options/utils.py
@@ -1,30 +1,51 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 # License: GPLv3 Copyright: 2022, Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
 
-from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
+from typing import Any, Dict, Optional, Iterable, Tuple
+
+
+DELETE_ENV_VAR = '_delete_this_env_var_'
+
+
+def env(val: str, current_val: Dict[str, str]) -> Iterable[Tuple[str, str]]:
+    val = val.strip()
+    if val:
+        if '=' in val:
+            key, v = val.split('=', 1)
+            key, v = key.strip(), v.strip()
+            if key:
+                yield key, v
+        else:
+            yield val, DELETE_ENV_VAR
 
 
 def init_results_dict(ans: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
-    ans['current_hostname'] = '*'
-    ans['current_host_dict'] = chd = {'hostname': '*'}
-    ans['per_host_dicts'] = {'*': chd}
+    ans['hostname'] = '*'
+    ans['per_host_dicts'] = {}
     return ans
 
 
-ignored_dict_keys = tuple(init_results_dict({}))
+def get_per_hosts_dict(results_dict: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]]:
+    ans: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]] = results_dict.get('per_host_dicts', {}).copy()
+    h = results_dict['hostname']
+    hd = {k: v for k, v in results_dict.items() if k != 'per_host_dicts'}
+    ans[h] = hd
+    return ans
+
+
+first_seen_positions: Dict[str, int] = {}
 
 
 def hostname(val: str, dict_with_parse_results: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> str:
     if dict_with_parse_results is not None:
-        ch = dict_with_parse_results['current_hostname']
+        ch = dict_with_parse_results['hostname']
         if val != ch:
-            hd = dict_with_parse_results.copy()
-            for k in ignored_dict_keys:
-                del hd[k]
-            phd = dict_with_parse_results['per_host_dicts']
-            phd[ch] = hd
+            from .parse import create_result_dict
+            phd = get_per_hosts_dict(dict_with_parse_results)
             dict_with_parse_results.clear()
+            dict_with_parse_results.update(phd.pop(val, create_result_dict()))
             dict_with_parse_results['per_host_dicts'] = phd
-            dict_with_parse_results['current_hostname'] = val
-            dict_with_parse_results['current_host_dict'] = phd.setdefault(val, {'hostname': val})
+            dict_with_parse_results['hostname'] = val
+            if val not in first_seen_positions:
+                first_seen_positions[val] = len(first_seen_positions)
     return val
diff --git a/kitty/conf/utils.py b/kitty/conf/utils.py
index 476955d71..d978dac57 100644
--- a/kitty/conf/utils.py
+++ b/kitty/conf/utils.py
@@ -253,9 +253,10 @@ def load_config(
     parse_config: Callable[[Iterable[str]], Dict[str, Any]],
     merge_configs: Callable[[Dict[str, Any], Dict[str, Any]], Dict[str, Any]],
     *paths: str,
-    overrides: Optional[Iterable[str]] = None
+    overrides: Optional[Iterable[str]] = None,
+    initialize_defaults: Callable[[Dict[str, Any]], Dict[str, Any]] = lambda x: x,
 ) -> Tuple[Dict[str, Any], Tuple[str, ...]]:
-    ans = defaults._asdict()
+    ans = initialize_defaults(defaults._asdict())
     found_paths = []
     for path in paths:
         if not path:
diff --git a/kitty_tests/ssh.py b/kitty_tests/ssh.py
index 9c5f22882..392ece932 100644
--- a/kitty_tests/ssh.py
+++ b/kitty_tests/ssh.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import shlex
 import shutil
 import tempfile
 
+from kittens.ssh.config import load_config, options_for_host
 from kittens.ssh.main import bootstrap_script, get_connection_data
 from kitty.constants import is_macos
 from kitty.fast_data_types import CURSOR_BEAM
@@ -43,6 +44,27 @@ print(' '.join(map(str, buf)))'''), lines=13, cols=77)
         t('ssh un@ip -iident -p34', host='un@ip', port=34, identity_file='ident')
         t('ssh -p 33 main', port=33)
 
+    def test_ssh_config_parsing(self):
+        def parse(conf):
+            with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix='test.conf') as cf:
+                cf.write(conf.encode('utf-8'))
+                cf.flush()
+                return load_config(cf.name)
+
+        def for_host(hostname, conf):
+            if isinstance(conf, str):
+                conf = parse(conf)
+            return options_for_host(hostname, conf)
+
+        self.ae(for_host('x', '').env, {})
+        self.ae(for_host('x', 'env a=b').env, {'a': 'b'})
+        pc = parse('env a=b\nhostname 2\nenv a=c\nenv b=b')
+        self.ae(set(pc.keys()), {'*', '2'})
+        self.ae(for_host('x', pc).env, {'a': 'b'})
+        self.ae(for_host('2', pc).env, {'a': 'c', 'b': 'b'})
+        self.ae(for_host('x', 'env a=').env, {'a': ''})
+        self.ae(for_host('x', 'env a').env, {'a': '_delete_this_env_var_'})
+
     def test_ssh_bootstrap_script(self):
         # test handling of data in tty before tarfile is sent
         all_possible_sh = tuple(sh for sh in ('dash', 'zsh', 'bash', 'posh', 'sh') if shutil.which(sh))