diff --git a/CLI/cmux.swift b/CLI/cmux.swift
index 50f225a7..690020cd 100644
--- a/CLI/cmux.swift
+++ b/CLI/cmux.swift
@@ -2120,8 +2120,18 @@ struct CMUXCLI {
             parts += ["-o", trimmed]
         }
 
-        parts.append(options.destination)
-        parts.append(contentsOf: options.extraArguments)
+        if options.extraArguments.isEmpty {
+            // No explicit remote command provided: launch an interactive shell while prepending
+            // ~/.cmux/bin so `cmux` works in this SSH session without touching remote dotfiles.
+            if !hasSSHOptionKey(options.sshOptions, key: "RequestTTY") {
+                parts.append("-tt")
+            }
+            parts.append(options.destination)
+            parts.append("export PATH=\"$HOME/.cmux/bin:$PATH\"; exec \"${SHELL:-/bin/zsh}\" -l")
+        } else {
+            parts.append(options.destination)
+            parts.append(contentsOf: options.extraArguments)
+        }
         return parts.map(shellQuote).joined(separator: " ")
     }
 
diff --git a/tests_v2/test_ssh_remote_cli_relay.py b/tests_v2/test_ssh_remote_cli_relay.py
index 2e189f04..89853d15 100644
--- a/tests_v2/test_ssh_remote_cli_relay.py
+++ b/tests_v2/test_ssh_remote_cli_relay.py
@@ -204,6 +204,11 @@ def main() -> int:
                         workspace_id = str(row.get("id") or "")
                         break
             _must(bool(workspace_id), f"cmux ssh output missing workspace_id: {payload}")
+            startup_cmd = str(payload.get("ssh_startup_command") or "")
+            _must(
+                'PATH="$HOME/.cmux/bin:$PATH"' in startup_cmd,
+                f"ssh startup command should prepend ~/.cmux/bin for remote cmux CLI: {startup_cmd!r}",
+            )
             workspace_window_id = payload.get("window_id")
             current_params = {"window_id": workspace_window_id} if isinstance(workspace_window_id, str) and workspace_window_id else {}
             current = client._call("workspace.current", current_params) or {}