diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index 2fee133aa8..3c5e0f74f3 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ Bugfixes:
   str_split_quoted() should return a real return code, so spawn_child can
   report the failure properly.
 
+* When systemctl --host is used, underlying ssh connection can remain open.
+  bus_close does not kill children?
+
 External:
 
 * Fedora: add an rpmlint check that verifies that all unit files in the RPM are listed in %systemd_post macros.
diff --git a/src/systemctl/systemctl.c b/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
index 66c0b9949e..11b0be001f 100644
--- a/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
+++ b/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
@@ -4563,6 +4563,11 @@ static int cat(sd_bus *bus, char **args) {
 
         assert(args);
 
+        if (arg_host) {
+                log_error("Option --host cannot be used with 'cat'");
+                return -EINVAL;
+        }
+
         r = init_home_and_lookup_paths(&user_home, &user_runtime, &lp);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;