diff --git a/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.py b/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.py
index 26f456f57..5ec35019d 100644
--- a/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.py
+++ b/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ data_dir = shell_integration_dir = ''
 request_data = int('REQUEST_DATA')
 leading_data = b''
 HOME = os.path.expanduser('~')
-login_shell = pwd.getpwuid(os.geteuid()).pw_shell or 'sh'
+login_shell = pwd.getpwuid(os.geteuid()).pw_shell or os.environ.get('SHELL') or 'sh'
 
 
 def set_echo(fd, on=False):
diff --git a/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.sh b/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.sh
index 9aa719a4a..fed6a0f1f 100644
--- a/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/shell-integration/ssh/bootstrap.sh
@@ -232,6 +232,10 @@ using_passwd() {
     return 1
 }
 
+using_shell_env() {
+    [ -n "$SHELL" ] && login_shell="$SHELL" && login_shell_is_ok
+}
+
 execute_with_python() {
     if detect_python; then
         exec "$python" "-c" "import os; os.execlp('$login_shell', '-' '$shell_name')"
@@ -250,7 +254,7 @@ if [ -n "$KITTY_LOGIN_SHELL" ]; then
     login_shell="$KITTY_LOGIN_SHELL"
     unset KITTY_LOGIN_SHELL
 else
-    using_getent || using_id || using_python || using_perl || using_passwd || die "Could not detect login shell"
+    using_getent || using_id || using_python || using_perl || using_passwd || using_shell_env || login_shell="sh"
 fi
 shell_name=$(command basename $login_shell)
 [ -n "$login_cwd" ] && cd "$login_cwd"