diff --git a/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc b/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc
index 39529e1a..e9278705 100644
--- a/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc
+++ b/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc
@@ -39,9 +39,11 @@ static void openConnection(const string & sshName, const string & sshKey,
         if (dup2(stderrFD, STDERR_FILENO) == -1)
             throw SysError("cannot dup stderr");
 
-        // FIXME: ensure no password prompt.
         // FIXME: connection timeouts
-        Strings argv({"ssh", sshName, "-i", sshKey, "-x", "-a", "--", "nix-store", "--serve", "--write"});
+        Strings argv(
+            { "ssh", sshName, "-i", sshKey, "-x", "-a"
+            , "-oBatchMode=yes", "-oConnectTimeout=60", "-oTCPKeepAlive=yes"
+            , "--", "nix-store", "--serve", "--write" });
 
         execvp("ssh", (char * *) stringsToCharPtrs(argv).data()); // FIXME: remove cast