diff --git a/config.example.yml b/config.example.yml
index f9f6efe..ca64c98 100644
--- a/config.example.yml
+++ b/config.example.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,11 @@ servers:
       # Disables PTY request for this server.
       nopty: true
       # Requests interactive shell for SSH sessions. Should be `true` for the `commands`.
+      # You can also pass a string with shell binary, for example, "/bin/sh".
+      # Note: commands will be executed using provided shell binary.
       shell: false
+      # Spoof client version with provided (value below is taken directly from OpenSSH). This value must be compliant with RFC-4253.
+      client_version: "SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_9.5"
       # Authentication data.
       auth:
         # Authentication type. Supported types: key, password, passwordless
@@ -84,7 +88,7 @@ servers:
       forward_port: 80
       fake_remote_host: true
       nopty: false
-      shell: true
+      shell: "/usr/bin/bash"
       mode: single
       keepalive:
         interval: 1
diff --git a/internal/server/driver/ssh/driver.go b/internal/server/driver/ssh/driver.go
index 4b576d2..5172203 100644
--- a/internal/server/driver/ssh/driver.go
+++ b/internal/server/driver/ssh/driver.go
@@ -25,13 +25,14 @@ var ErrAlreadyInUse = errors.New("domain is already in use")
 
 type SSH struct {
 	base.Base
-	params       Params
-	auth         []ssh.AuthMethod
-	hostKeys     []ssh.PublicKey
-	conns        map[string]conn
-	rw           sync.RWMutex
-	wg           sync.WaitGroup
-	domainRegExp *regexp.Regexp
+	params        Params
+	auth          []ssh.AuthMethod
+	hostKeys      []ssh.PublicKey
+	conns         map[string]conn
+	clientVersion string
+	rw            sync.RWMutex
+	wg            sync.WaitGroup
+	domainRegExp  *regexp.Regexp
 }
 
 type conn struct {
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ func New(ctx context.Context, name string, params config.DriverParams) (base.Dri
 	drv.domainRegExp = matcher
 	drv.populateFromSSHConfig()
 	drv.auth = drv.authenticators()
+	drv.clientVersion = drv.buildClientVersion()
 	return drv, nil
 }
 
@@ -69,7 +71,8 @@ func (d *SSH) forward(val sshtun.Forward, domainMatcher func(string)) conn {
 			Forward:           val,
 			HostKeys:          d.hostKeys,
 			NoPTY:             d.params.NoPTY,
-			Shell:             d.params.Shell,
+			Shell:             sshtun.BoolOrStr(d.params.Shell),
+			ClientVersion:     d.clientVersion,
 			FakeRemoteHost:    d.params.FakeRemoteHost,
 			KeepAliveInterval: uint(d.params.KeepAlive.Interval),
 			KeepAliveMax:      uint(d.params.KeepAlive.MaxAttempts),
@@ -88,6 +91,23 @@ func (d *SSH) forward(val sshtun.Forward, domainMatcher func(string)) conn {
 	return conn{ctx: ctx, cancel: cancel, tun: tun}
 }
 
+func (d *SSH) buildClientVersion() string {
+	ver := strings.TrimSpace(d.params.ClientVersion)
+	if ver == "" {
+		return ""
+	}
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(ver, "SSH-2.0-") {
+		d.Log().Warn(
+			"client_version must have 'SSH-2.0-' prefix (see RFC-4253), this will be fixed automatically")
+		ver = "SSH-2.0-" + ver
+	}
+	if !isValidClientVersion(ver) {
+		d.Log().Warnf("invalid client_version value, using default...")
+		return ""
+	}
+	return ver
+}
+
 func (d *SSH) buildHostKeys() error {
 	if d.params.HostKeys == "" {
 		return nil
diff --git a/internal/server/driver/ssh/params.go b/internal/server/driver/ssh/params.go
index 35d3069..e61ecca 100644
--- a/internal/server/driver/ssh/params.go
+++ b/internal/server/driver/ssh/params.go
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ type Params struct {
 	Mode               types.DomainMode `mapstructure:"mode" validate:"required,oneof=single multi"`
 	FakeRemoteHost     bool             `mapstructure:"fake_remote_host"`
 	NoPTY              bool             `mapstructure:"nopty"`
-	Shell              bool             `mapstructure:"shell"`
+	Shell              string           `mapstructure:"shell"`
+	ClientVersion      string           `mapstructure:"client_version"`
 	Commands           types.Commands   `mapstructure:"commands"`
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/server/driver/ssh/sshtun/connect.go b/internal/server/driver/ssh/sshtun/connect.go
index 5c83f2e..5917817 100644
--- a/internal/server/driver/ssh/sshtun/connect.go
+++ b/internal/server/driver/ssh/sshtun/connect.go
@@ -29,12 +29,27 @@ type TunnelConfig struct {
 	Forward           Forward
 	HostKeys          []ssh.PublicKey
 	NoPTY             bool
-	Shell             bool
+	Shell             BoolOrStr
+	ClientVersion     string
 	FakeRemoteHost    bool
 	KeepAliveInterval uint
 	KeepAliveMax      uint
 }
 
+type BoolOrStr string
+
+func (b BoolOrStr) IsBool() bool {
+	return b == "true" || b == "false"
+}
+
+func (b BoolOrStr) Falsy() bool {
+	return b == "" || b == "false"
+}
+
+func (b BoolOrStr) String() string {
+	return string(b)
+}
+
 func New(address, user string, auth []ssh.AuthMethod, sc TunnelConfig, log *zap.SugaredLogger) *Tunnel {
 	return &Tunnel{
 		address:     AddrToEndpoint(address),
@@ -88,6 +103,7 @@ func (t *Tunnel) connect(ctx context.Context, bannerCb ssh.BannerCallback, sessi
 		Auth:            t.authMethods,
 		HostKeyCallback: t.buildHostKeyCallback(),
 		BannerCallback:  bannerCb,
+		ClientVersion:   t.tunConfig.ClientVersion,
 	}
 
 	var sshClient *ssh.Client
@@ -125,9 +141,15 @@ func (t *Tunnel) connect(ctx context.Context, bannerCb ssh.BannerCallback, sessi
 			t.log.Warnf("PTY allocation failed: %s", err.Error())
 		}
 	}
-	if t.tunConfig.Shell {
-		if err := sess.Shell(); err != nil {
-			t.log.Warnf("failed to start shell: %s", err.Error())
+	if !t.tunConfig.Shell.Falsy() {
+		if t.tunConfig.Shell.IsBool() {
+			if err := sess.Shell(); err != nil {
+				t.log.Warnf("failed to start empty shell: %s", err.Error())
+			}
+		} else {
+			if err := sess.Start(t.tunConfig.Shell.String()); err != nil {
+				t.log.Warnf("failed to start shell '%s': %s", t.tunConfig.Shell, err.Error())
+			}
 		}
 		wg.Add(1)
 		go func() {
diff --git a/internal/server/driver/ssh/validate.go b/internal/server/driver/ssh/validate.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb47c0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/server/driver/ssh/validate.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+package ssh
+
+import "regexp"
+
+var clientVersionVerifier = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-zA-Z0-9\.\-\_]+\x{20}?[a-zA-Z0-9\.\-\_]+?$`)
+
+// isValidClientVersion returns true if provided SSH client version string is compliant with RFC-4253.
+func isValidClientVersion(ver string) bool {
+	return clientVersionVerifier.MatchString(ver)
+}
diff --git a/internal/server/driver/util/params.go b/internal/server/driver/util/params.go
index 24ab7e1..1052ad8 100644
--- a/internal/server/driver/util/params.go
+++ b/internal/server/driver/util/params.go
@@ -10,7 +10,14 @@ type ValidationAvailable interface {
 }
 
 func UnmarshalParams(params config.DriverParams, target ValidationAvailable) error {
-	if err := mapstructure.Decode(params, target); err != nil {
+	dec, err := mapstructure.NewDecoder(&mapstructure.DecoderConfig{
+		Result:           target,
+		WeaklyTypedInput: true,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := dec.Decode(params); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	if val, canValidate := target.(ValidationAvailable); canValidate {