diff --git a/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.test.ts b/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.test.ts
index 6f4f14ea9eb64..5f0f1d7b94692 100644
--- a/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.test.ts
@@ -142,7 +142,16 @@ const runArchiveRunner = Effect.fn("test.runArchiveRunner")(
 );
 
 describe("ssh tunnel scripts", () => {
-  it.live.each(["launchd", "systemd", "none"] as const)(
+  const serviceManagers = [
+    "launchd",
+    "systemd",
+    "systemd-unavailable",
+    "systemd-unavailable-xdg",
+    "systemd-unavailable-relative-xdg",
+    "systemd-unavailable-login-xdg",
+    "none",
+  ] as const;
+  it.live.each(serviceManagers)(
     "respects %s service ownership when the server is stopped",
     (manager) =>
       Effect.gen(function* () {
@@ -175,12 +184,27 @@ esac
           yield* fs.makeDirectory(agents, { recursive: true });
           yield* fs.writeFileString(`${agents}/com.t3tools.t3code.service.plist`, "installed");
         }
+        const xdgConfigHome =
+          manager === "systemd-unavailable-xdg" || manager === "systemd-unavailable-login-xdg"
+            ? `${root}/custom config`
+            : manager === "systemd-unavailable-relative-xdg"
+              ? "relative-config"
+              : undefined;
+        if (manager.startsWith("systemd-unavailable")) {
+          const units = `${manager === "systemd-unavailable-xdg" ? xdgConfigHome : `${root}/.config`}/systemd/user`;
+          yield* fs.makeDirectory(units, { recursive: true });
+          yield* fs.writeFileString(`${units}/t3code.service`, "installed");
+        }
         const ssh = ChildProcessSpawner.make((command) => {
           if (command._tag !== "StandardCommand") return Effect.die("Expected SSH command");
           return spawner.spawn(
             ChildProcess.make("sh", ["-s", "--", "test-peer"], {
               ...command.options,
-              env: { HOME: root, PATH: `${bin}:/usr/bin:/bin` },
+              env: {
+                HOME: root,
+                PATH: `${bin}:/usr/bin:/bin`,
+                ...(xdgConfigHome === undefined ? {} : { XDG_CONFIG_HOME: xdgConfigHome }),
+              },
               extendEnv: false,
             }),
           );
diff --git a/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.ts b/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.ts
index cb08ae9851c4e..7e0b94f155a5d 100644
--- a/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.ts
+++ b/packages/ssh/src/tunnel.ts
@@ -744,7 +744,14 @@ if [ -z "$REMOTE_PORT" ]; then
       fi
       ;;
     Linux)
-      if command -v systemctl >/dev/null 2>&1 && systemctl --user cat t3code.service >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      SERVICE_UNIT="systemd/user/t3code.service"
+      SERVICE_CONFIG_HOME="$HOME/.config"
+      case "\${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-}" in
+        /*) SERVICE_CONFIG_HOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME" ;;
+      esac
+      # The SSH login may have a different XDG home and no connection to the user manager.
+      if [ -f "$SERVICE_CONFIG_HOME/$SERVICE_UNIT" ] || [ -f "$HOME/.config/$SERVICE_UNIT" ] ||
+        { command -v systemctl >/dev/null 2>&1 && systemctl --user cat t3code.service >/dev/null 2>&1; }; then
         SERVICE_INSTALLED=1
       fi
       ;;