diff --git a/sshserver/sshserver_unix.go b/sshserver/sshserver_unix.go
index 9b879f40..965104c9 100644
--- a/sshserver/sshserver_unix.go
+++ b/sshserver/sshserver_unix.go
@@ -75,19 +75,6 @@ func (s *SSHServer) connectionHandler(session ssh.Session) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	// Spawn shell under user
-	cmd := exec.Command(sshUser.Shell)
-
-	ptyReq, winCh, isPty := session.Pty()
-	if !isPty {
-		if _, err := io.WriteString(session, "No PTY requested.\n"); err != nil {
-			s.logger.WithError(err).Error("No PTY requested: Failed to write to SSH session")
-		}
-
-		s.CloseSession(session)
-		return
-	}
-
 	uidInt, err := stringToUint32(sshUser.Uid)
 	if err != nil {
 		s.logger.WithError(err).Error("Invalid user")
@@ -101,39 +88,52 @@ func (s *SSHServer) connectionHandler(session ssh.Session) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	// Spawn shell under user
+	var cmd *exec.Cmd
+	if session.RawCommand() != "" {
+		cmd = exec.Command(sshUser.Shell, "-c", session.RawCommand())
+	} else {
+		cmd = exec.Command(sshUser.Shell)
+	}
 	// Supplementary groups are not explicitly specified. They seem to be inherited by default.
-	cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{Credential: &syscall.Credential{Uid: uidInt, Gid: gidInt}}
-	cmd.Env = append(cmd.Env, fmt.Sprintf("TERM=%s", ptyReq.Term))
+	cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{Credential: &syscall.Credential{Uid: uidInt, Gid: gidInt}, Setsid: true}
+	cmd.Env = append(cmd.Env, session.Environ()...)
 	cmd.Env = append(cmd.Env, fmt.Sprintf("USER=%s", sshUser.Username))
 	cmd.Env = append(cmd.Env, fmt.Sprintf("HOME=%s", sshUser.HomeDir))
 	cmd.Dir = sshUser.HomeDir
-	psuedoTTY, err := pty.Start(cmd)
-	if err != nil {
-		s.logger.WithError(err).Error("Failed to start pty session")
-		s.CloseSession(session)
-		close(s.shutdownC)
-		return
+
+	ptyReq, winCh, isPty := session.Pty()
+	var shellInput io.WriteCloser
+	var shellOutput io.ReadCloser
+
+	if isPty {
+		cmd.Env = append(cmd.Env, fmt.Sprintf("TERM=%s", ptyReq.Term))
+		shellInput, shellOutput, err = s.startPtySession(cmd, winCh)
+		if err != nil {
+			s.logger.WithError(err).Error("Failed to start pty session")
+			close(s.shutdownC)
+			return
+		}
+	} else {
+		shellInput, shellOutput, err = s.startNonPtySession(cmd)
+		if err != nil {
+			s.logger.WithError(err).Error("Failed to start non-pty session")
+			close(s.shutdownC)
+			return
+		}
 	}
 
-	// Handle terminal window size changes
+	// Write incoming commands to shell
 	go func() {
-		for win := range winCh {
-			if errNo := setWinsize(psuedoTTY, win.Width, win.Height); errNo != 0 {
-				s.logger.WithError(err).Error("Failed to set pty window size: ", err.Error())
-				s.CloseSession(session)
-				close(s.shutdownC)
-				return
-			}
-		}
-	}()
-
-	// Write incoming commands to PTY
-	go func() {
-		if _, err := io.Copy(psuedoTTY, session); err != nil {
+		if _, err := io.Copy(shellInput, session); err != nil {
 			s.logger.WithError(err).Error("Failed to write incoming command to pty")
 		}
 	}()
+
 	pr, pw := io.Pipe()
+	defer pr.Close()
+	defer pw.Close()
+
 	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(pr)
 	go func() {
 		for scanner.Scan() {
@@ -143,18 +143,10 @@ func (s *SSHServer) connectionHandler(session ssh.Session) {
 
 	// Write outgoing command output to both the command recorder, and remote user
 	mw := io.MultiWriter(pw, session)
-	if _, err := io.Copy(mw, psuedoTTY); err != nil {
+	if _, err := io.Copy(mw, shellOutput); err != nil {
 		s.logger.WithError(err).Error("Failed to write command output to user")
 	}
 
-	if err := pw.Close(); err != nil {
-		s.logger.WithError(err).Error("Failed to close pipe writer")
-	}
-
-	if err := pr.Close(); err != nil {
-		s.logger.WithError(err).Error("Failed to close pipe reader")
-	}
-
 	// Wait for all resources associated with cmd to be released
 	// Returns error if shell exited with a non-zero status or received a signal
 	if err := cmd.Wait(); err != nil {
@@ -168,6 +160,42 @@ func (s *SSHServer) CloseSession(session ssh.Session) {
 	}
 }
 
+func (s *SSHServer) startNonPtySession(cmd *exec.Cmd) (io.WriteCloser, io.ReadCloser, error) {
+	in, err := cmd.StdinPipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	out, err := cmd.StdoutPipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	cmd.Stderr = cmd.Stdout
+	if err = cmd.Start(); err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	return in, out, nil
+}
+
+func (s *SSHServer) startPtySession(cmd *exec.Cmd, winCh <-chan ssh.Window) (io.WriteCloser, io.ReadCloser, error) {
+	tty, err := pty.Start(cmd)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Handle terminal window size changes
+	go func() {
+		for win := range winCh {
+			if errNo := setWinsize(tty, win.Width, win.Height); errNo != 0 {
+				s.logger.WithError(err).Error("Failed to set pty window size")
+				close(s.shutdownC)
+				return
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+
+	return tty, tty, nil
+}
+
 // Sets PTY window size for terminal
 func setWinsize(f *os.File, w, h int) syscall.Errno {
 	_, _, errNo := syscall.Syscall(syscall.SYS_IOCTL, f.Fd(), uintptr(syscall.TIOCSWINSZ),