diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/SSH.pm b/perl/lib/Nix/SSH.pm
index 84bff5c7..3bcbabe9 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/SSH.pm
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/SSH.pm
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ sub connectToRemoteNix {
 
     # Start ‘nix-store --serve’ on the remote host.
     my ($from, $to);
-    my $pid = open2($from, $to, "ssh $sshHost @{$sshOpts} nix-store --serve --write $extraFlags");
+    # FIXME: don't start a shell, start ssh directly.
+    my $pid = open2($from, $to, "exec ssh $sshHost @{$sshOpts} nix-store --serve --write $extraFlags");
 
     # Do the handshake.
     my $SERVE_MAGIC_1 = 0x390c9deb; # FIXME