diff --git a/kittens/ssh/utils.go b/kittens/ssh/utils.go
index 6c37566f4..d50db81ca 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/utils.go
+++ b/kittens/ssh/utils.go
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ type KittyOpts struct {
 	Term, Shell_integration string
 }
 
-func read_relevant_kitty_opts() KittyOpts {
+func read_relevant_kitty_opts(override_conf_path ...string) KittyOpts {
 	ans := KittyOpts{Term: kitty.KittyConfigDefaults.Term, Shell_integration: kitty.KittyConfigDefaults.Shell_integration}
 	handle_line := func(key, val string) error {
 		switch key {
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ func read_relevant_kitty_opts() KittyOpts {
 		}
 		return nil
 	}
-	config.ReadKittyConfig(handle_line)
+	config.ReadKittyConfig(handle_line, override_conf_path...)
 	return ans
 }
 
diff --git a/kittens/ssh/utils_test.go b/kittens/ssh/utils_test.go
index a36c0df88..09197acbb 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/utils_test.go
+++ b/kittens/ssh/utils_test.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
-	"kitty/tools/config"
 	"kitty/tools/utils/shlex"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
@@ -67,10 +66,8 @@ func TestParseSSHArgs(t *testing.T) {
 func TestRelevantKittyOpts(t *testing.T) {
 	tdir := t.TempDir()
 	path := filepath.Join(tdir, "kitty.conf")
-	config.OverrideEffectiveConfigPath = path
-	defer func() { config.OverrideEffectiveConfigPath = "" }()
 	os.WriteFile(path, []byte("term XXX\nshell_integration changed\nterm abcd"), 0o600)
-	rko := read_relevant_kitty_opts()
+	rko := read_relevant_kitty_opts(path)
 	if rko.Term != "abcd" {
 		t.Fatalf("Unexpected TERM: %s", RelevantKittyOpts().Term)
 	}
diff --git a/tools/config/api.go b/tools/config/api.go
index 2ed51c95a..374dbc971 100644
--- a/tools/config/api.go
+++ b/tools/config/api.go
@@ -403,9 +403,12 @@ func ReloadConfigInKitty(in_parent_only bool) error {
 
 var OverrideEffectiveConfigPath string
 
-func ReadKittyConfig(line_handler func(key, val string) error) error {
+func ReadKittyConfig(line_handler func(key, val string) error, override_effective_config_path ...string) error {
 	kp := os.Getenv("KITTY_PID")
-	kitty_conf_path := OverrideEffectiveConfigPath
+	kitty_conf_path := ""
+	if len(override_effective_config_path) > 0 {
+		kitty_conf_path = override_effective_config_path[0]
+	}
 	if _, err := strconv.Atoi(kp); err == nil && kitty_conf_path == "" {
 		effective_config_path := filepath.Join(utils.CacheDir(), "effective-config", kp)
 		if unix.Access(effective_config_path, unix.R_OK) == nil {