diff --git a/kitty/launch.py b/kitty/launch.py
index 7a8d8a000..2e5a49374 100644
--- a/kitty/launch.py
+++ b/kitty/launch.py
@@ -567,9 +567,13 @@ class CloneCmd:
                 self.args.append(v)
             elif k == 'env':
                 self.env = parse_bash_env(v) if self.envfmt == 'bash' else parse_null_env(v)
-                for filtered in ('PS0', 'PS1', 'PS2', 'PS3', 'PS4', 'RPS1', 'PROMPT_COMMAND'):
+                for filtered in (
                     # some people export these. We want the shell rc files to
                     # recreate them
+                    'PS0', 'PS1', 'PS2', 'PS3', 'PS4', 'RPS1', 'PROMPT_COMMAND', 'SHLVL',
+                    # skip SSH environment variables
+                    'SSH_CLIENT', 'SSH_CONNECTION', 'SSH_ORIGINAL_COMMAND', 'SSH_TTY', 'SSH2_TTY',
+                ):
                     self.env.pop(filtered, None)
             elif k == 'cwd':
                 self.cwd = v