diff --git a/sesschan.c b/sesschan.c
index 84007644..ecb34f4c 100644
--- a/sesschan.c
+++ b/sesschan.c
@@ -297,7 +297,8 @@ static void sesschan_start_backend(sesschan *sess, const char *cmd)
 
     sess->backend = pty_backend_create(
         &sess->seat, sess->child_logctx, sess->conf, NULL, cmd,
-        sess->ttymodes, !sess->want_pty, env_to_unset);
+        sess->ttymodes, !sess->want_pty, sess->ssc->session_starting_dir,
+        env_to_unset);
     backend_size(sess->backend, sess->wc, sess->hc);
 }
 
diff --git a/sshserver.h b/sshserver.h
index 1f0be6e7..bbdb8765 100644
--- a/sshserver.h
+++ b/sshserver.h
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 typedef struct AuthPolicy AuthPolicy;
 
 struct SshServerConfig {
+    const char *session_starting_dir;
+
     RSAKey *rsa_kex_key;
 
     /*
@@ -102,7 +104,7 @@ Channel *sesschan_new(SshChannel *c, LogContext *logctx,
 
 Backend *pty_backend_create(
     Seat *seat, LogContext *logctx, Conf *conf, char **argv, const char *cmd,
-    struct ssh_ttymodes ttymodes, bool pipes_instead_of_pty,
+    struct ssh_ttymodes ttymodes, bool pipes_instead_of_pty, const char *dir,
     const char *const *env_vars_to_unset);
 int pty_backend_exit_signum(Backend *be);
 ptrlen pty_backend_exit_signame(Backend *be, char **aux_msg);
diff --git a/unix/uxpty.c b/unix/uxpty.c
index 437eba49..d3b64b68 100644
--- a/unix/uxpty.c
+++ b/unix/uxpty.c
@@ -857,7 +857,7 @@ static void copy_ttymodes_into_termios(
  */
 Backend *pty_backend_create(
     Seat *seat, LogContext *logctx, Conf *conf, char **argv, const char *cmd,
-    struct ssh_ttymodes ttymodes, bool pipes_instead,
+    struct ssh_ttymodes ttymodes, bool pipes_instead, const char *dir,
     const char *const *env_vars_to_unset)
 {
     int slavefd;
@@ -1145,6 +1145,9 @@ Backend *pty_backend_create(
 	    }
 	}
 
+        if (dir)
+            chdir(dir);
+
 	/*
 	 * SIGINT, SIGQUIT and SIGPIPE may have been set to ignored by
 	 * our parent, particularly by things like sh -c 'pterm &' and
@@ -1274,7 +1277,7 @@ static const char *pty_init(Seat *seat, Backend **backend_handle,
         cmd = pty_argv[0];
 
     *backend_handle= pty_backend_create(
-        seat, logctx, conf, pty_argv, cmd, modes, false, NULL);
+        seat, logctx, conf, pty_argv, cmd, modes, false, NULL, NULL);
     *realhost = dupstr("");
     return NULL;
 }
diff --git a/unix/uxserver.c b/unix/uxserver.c
index 9f2dd9be..83e5f379 100644
--- a/unix/uxserver.c
+++ b/unix/uxserver.c
@@ -312,6 +312,7 @@ static void show_help(FILE *fp)
           "(in SSH-1 format)\n"
           "         --userkey KEY        public key"
            " acceptable for user authentication\n"
+          "         --sessiondir DIR     cwd for session subprocess (default $HOME)\n"
           "         --bannertext TEXT    send TEXT as SSH-2 auth banner\n"
           "         --bannerfile FILE    send contents of FILE as SSH-2 auth "
           "banner\n"
@@ -527,6 +528,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     memset(&ssc, 0, sizeof(ssc));
 
+    ssc.session_starting_dir = getenv("HOME");
+
     if (argc <= 1) {
         /*
          * We're going to terminate with an error message below,
@@ -710,6 +713,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             ssc.banner = ptrlen_from_strbuf(sb);
         } else if (longoptarg(arg, "--bannertext", &val, &argc, &argv)) {
             ssc.banner = ptrlen_from_asciz(val);
+        } else if (longoptarg(arg, "--sessiondir", &val, &argc, &argv)) {
+            ssc.session_starting_dir = val;
         } else if (longoptarg(arg, "--kexinit-kex", &val, &argc, &argv)) {
             ssc.kex_override[KEXLIST_KEX] = ptrlen_from_asciz(val);
         } else if (longoptarg(arg, "--kexinit-hostkey", &val, &argc, &argv)) {