diff --git a/kittens/ssh/main.py b/kittens/ssh/main.py
index 7ef2118ad..9378611d9 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/main.py
+++ b/kittens/ssh/main.py
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ from base64 import standard_b64decode, standard_b64encode
 from contextlib import suppress
 from getpass import getuser
 from typing import (
-    Any, Callable, Dict, Iterator, List, NoReturn, Optional, Set, Tuple, Union
+    Any, Callable, Dict, Iterator, List, NoReturn, Optional, Sequence, Set,
+    Tuple, Union
 )
 
 from kitty.constants import cache_dir, shell_integration_dir, terminfo_dir
@@ -156,7 +157,6 @@ def get_ssh_data(msg: str) -> Iterator[bytes]:
                 traceback.print_exc()
                 yield fmt_prefix('!error while gathering ssh data')
             else:
-                from base64 import standard_b64encode
                 encoded_data = standard_b64encode(data)
                 yield fmt_prefix(len(encoded_data))
                 yield encoded_data
@@ -177,7 +177,18 @@ def prepare_script(ans: str, replacements: Dict[str, str]) -> str:
     return re.sub('|'.join(fr'\b{k}\b' for k in replacements), sub, ans)
 
 
-def bootstrap_script(script_type: str = 'sh', exec_cmd: str = '', ssh_opts_dict: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]] = {}) -> str:
+def prepare_exec_cmd(remote_args: Sequence[str], is_python: bool) -> str:
+    # ssh simply concatenates multiple commands using a space see
+    # line 1129 of ssh.c and on the remote side sshd.c runs the
+    # concatenated command as shell -c cmd
+    if is_python:
+        return standard_b64encode(' '.join(remote_args).encode('utf-8')).decode('ascii')
+    args = ' '.join(c.replace("'", """'"'"'""") for c in remote_args)
+    return f"""exec "$login_shell" -c '{args}'"""
+
+
+def bootstrap_script(script_type: str = 'sh', remote_args: Sequence[str] = (), ssh_opts_dict: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]] = {}, test_script: str = '') -> str:
+    exec_cmd = prepare_exec_cmd(remote_args, script_type == 'py') if remote_args else ''
     with open(os.path.join(shell_integration_dir, 'ssh', f'bootstrap.{script_type}')) as f:
         ans = f.read()
     pw = uuid4()
@@ -185,12 +196,12 @@ def bootstrap_script(script_type: str = 'sh', exec_cmd: str = '', ssh_opts_dict:
         data = {'pw': pw, 'env': dict(os.environ), 'opts': ssh_opts_dict}
         tf.write(json.dumps(data).encode('utf-8'))
     atexit.register(safe_remove, tf.name)
-    replacements = {'DATA_PASSWORD': pw, 'PASSWORD_FILENAME': os.path.basename(tf.name), 'EXEC_CMD': exec_cmd}
+    replacements = {'DATA_PASSWORD': pw, 'PASSWORD_FILENAME': os.path.basename(tf.name), 'EXEC_CMD': exec_cmd, 'TEST_SCRIPT': test_script}
     return prepare_script(ans, replacements)
 
 
-def load_script(script_type: str = 'sh', exec_cmd: str = '', ssh_opts_dict: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]] = {}) -> str:
-    return bootstrap_script(script_type, exec_cmd, ssh_opts_dict=ssh_opts_dict)
+def load_script(script_type: str = 'sh', remote_args: Sequence[str] = (), ssh_opts_dict: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]] = {}) -> str:
+    return bootstrap_script(script_type, remote_args, ssh_opts_dict=ssh_opts_dict)
 
 
 def get_ssh_cli() -> Tuple[Set[str], Set[str]]:
@@ -361,18 +372,8 @@ def get_remote_command(
     remote_args: List[str], hostname: str = 'localhost', interpreter: str = 'sh',
     ssh_opts_dict: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]] = {}
 ) -> List[str]:
-    command_to_execute = ''
     is_python = 'python' in interpreter.lower()
-    if remote_args:
-        # ssh simply concatenates multiple commands using a space see
-        # line 1129 of ssh.c and on the remote side sshd.c runs the
-        # concatenated command as shell -c cmd
-        if is_python:
-            command_to_execute = standard_b64encode(' '.join(remote_args).encode('utf-8')).decode('ascii')
-        else:
-            args = [c.replace("'", """'"'"'""") for c in remote_args]
-            command_to_execute = "exec \"$login_shell\" -c '{}'".format(' '.join(args))
-    sh_script = load_script(script_type='py' if is_python else 'sh', exec_cmd=command_to_execute, ssh_opts_dict=ssh_opts_dict)
+    sh_script = load_script(script_type='py' if is_python else 'sh', remote_args=remote_args, ssh_opts_dict=ssh_opts_dict)
     return [f'{interpreter} -c {shlex.quote(sh_script)}']
 
 
diff --git a/kitty_tests/ssh.py b/kitty_tests/ssh.py
index c53f34047..4a5dacba8 100644
--- a/kitty_tests/ssh.py
+++ b/kitty_tests/ssh.py
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ print(' '.join(map(str, buf)))'''), lines=13, cols=77)
     @property
     @lru_cache()
     def all_possible_sh(self):
-        return tuple(filter(shutil.which, ('dash', 'zsh', 'bash', 'posh', 'sh')))
+        python = 'python3' if shutil.which('python3') else 'python'
+        return tuple(filter(shutil.which, ('dash', 'zsh', 'bash', 'posh', 'sh', python)))
 
     def test_ssh_copy(self):
         simple_data = 'rkjlhfwf9whoaa'
@@ -111,7 +112,7 @@ copy --exclude */w.* d1
 '''
                 copy = load_config(overrides=filter(None, conf.splitlines()))['*'].copy
                 self.check_bootstrap(
-                    sh, remote_home, extra_exec='env; exit 0', SHELL_INTEGRATION_VALUE='',
+                    sh, remote_home, test_script='env; exit 0', SHELL_INTEGRATION_VALUE='',
                     ssh_opts={'copy': copy}
                 )
                 tname = '.terminfo'
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ copy --exclude */w.* d1
         for sh in self.all_possible_sh:
             with self.subTest(sh=sh), tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tdir:
                 pty = self.check_bootstrap(
-                    sh, tdir, extra_exec='env; exit 0', SHELL_INTEGRATION_VALUE='',
+                    sh, tdir, test_script='env; exit 0', SHELL_INTEGRATION_VALUE='',
                     ssh_opts={'env': {
                         'TSET': 'set-works',
                         'COLORTERM': DELETE_ENV_VAR,
@@ -151,10 +152,13 @@ copy --exclude */w.* d1
                 self.assertNotIn('COLORTERM', pty.screen_contents())
 
     def test_ssh_leading_data(self):
+        script = 'echo "ld:$leading_data"; exit 0'
         for sh in self.all_possible_sh:
+            if 'python' in sh:
+                script = 'print("ld:" + leading_data.decode("ascii")); raise SystemExit(0);'
             with self.subTest(sh=sh), tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tdir:
                 pty = self.check_bootstrap(
-                    sh, tdir, extra_exec='echo "ld:$leading_data"; exit 0',
+                    sh, tdir, test_script=script,
                     SHELL_INTEGRATION_VALUE='', pre_data='before_tarfile')
                 self.ae(pty.screen_contents(), 'UNTAR_DONE\nld:before_tarfile')
 
@@ -174,8 +178,10 @@ copy --exclude */w.* d1
         expected_login_shell = pwd.getpwuid(os.geteuid()).pw_shell
         for m in methods:
             for sh in self.all_possible_sh:
+                if 'python' in sh:
+                    continue
                 with self.subTest(sh=sh, method=m), tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tdir:
-                    pty = self.check_bootstrap(sh, tdir, extra_exec=f'{m}; echo "$login_shell"; exit 0', SHELL_INTEGRATION_VALUE='')
+                    pty = self.check_bootstrap(sh, tdir, test_script=f'{m}; echo "$login_shell"; exit 0', SHELL_INTEGRATION_VALUE='')
                     self.assertIn(expected_login_shell, pty.screen_contents())
 
     def test_ssh_shell_integration(self):
@@ -205,12 +211,19 @@ copy --exclude */w.* d1
                         pty.wait_till(lambda: len(pty.screen_contents().splitlines()) >= num_lines + 2)
                         self.assertEqual(pty.screen.cursor.shape, 0)
 
-    def check_bootstrap(self, sh, home_dir, login_shell='', SHELL_INTEGRATION_VALUE='enabled', extra_exec='', pre_data='', ssh_opts=None):
+    def check_bootstrap(self, sh, home_dir, login_shell='', SHELL_INTEGRATION_VALUE='enabled', test_script='', pre_data='', ssh_opts=None):
         ssh_opts = ssh_opts or {}
         if login_shell:
             ssh_opts['login_shell'] = login_shell
+        if 'python' in sh:
+            if test_script.startswith('env;'):
+                test_script = f'os.execlp("sh", "sh", "-c", {test_script!r})'
+            test_script = f'print("UNTAR_DONE", flush=True); {test_script}'
+        else:
+            test_script = f'echo "UNTAR_DONE"; {test_script}'
         script = bootstrap_script(
-            exec_cmd=f'echo "UNTAR_DONE"; {extra_exec}', ssh_opts_dict={'*': ssh_opts},
+            script_type='py' if 'python' in sh else 'sh',
+            test_script=test_script, ssh_opts_dict={'*': ssh_opts},
         )
         env = basic_shell_env(home_dir)
         # Avoid generating unneeded completion scripts
diff --git a/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.py b/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.py
index c8923e6ae..3abfef1ee 100644
--- a/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.py
+++ b/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import tty
 tty_fd = -1
 original_termios_state = None
 data_dir = shell_integration_dir = ''
+leading_data = b''
 HOME = os.path.expanduser('~')
 login_shell = pwd.getpwuid(os.geteuid()).pw_shell or 'sh'
 
@@ -108,7 +109,7 @@ def compile_terminfo(base):
 
 
 def get_data():
-    global data_dir, shell_integration_dir
+    global data_dir, shell_integration_dir, leading_data
     data = b''
 
     while data.count(b'\036') < 2:
@@ -219,6 +220,7 @@ def main():
     if exec_cmd:
         cmd = base64.standard_b64decode(exec_cmd).decode('utf-8')
         os.execlp(login_shell, os.path.basename(login_shell), '-c', cmd)
+    TEST_SCRIPT  # noqa
     if ksi and 'no-rc' not in ksi:
         exec_with_shell_integration()
     os.environ.pop('KITTY_SHELL_INTEGRATION', None)
diff --git a/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.sh b/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.sh
index 9f58f859f..e6500be0b 100644
--- a/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.sh
@@ -324,6 +324,9 @@ exec_with_shell_integration() {
     esac
 }
 
+# Used in the tests
+TEST_SCRIPT
+
 case "$KITTY_SHELL_INTEGRATION" in
     ("")
         # only blanks or unset