diff --git a/cmd/sclient/main.go b/cmd/sclient/main.go
index e3161f4..3eb8a14 100644
--- a/cmd/sclient/main.go
+++ b/cmd/sclient/main.go
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ func usage() {
 		"   ex: sclient example.com:8443 0.0.0.0:4080\n"+
 		"\n"+
 		"   ex: sclient example.com:443 -\n"+
+		"\n"+
+		"   ex: sclient --ssh 22 example.com 3000\n"+
+		"      (try TLS+ssh ALPN on 443, fall back to SSH on port 22)\n"+
 		"\n", ver())
 	flag.PrintDefaults()
 	fmt.Println()
@@ -51,10 +54,12 @@ func main() {
 	var insecure bool
 	var servername string
 	var silent bool
+	var sshFallbackPort int
 
 	flag.Usage = usage
 
 	flag.StringVar(&alpnList, "alpn", "", "acceptable protocols, ex: 'h2,http/1.1' 'http/1.1' 'ssh'")
+	flag.IntVar(&sshFallbackPort, "ssh", 0, "enable ssh ALPN and fall back to direct SSH on <port> if TLS+ssh fails (ex: 22)")
 	flag.BoolVar(&insecure, "k", false, "alias for --insecure")
 	flag.BoolVar(&silent, "s", false, "alias of --silent")
 	flag.StringVar(&servername, "servername", "", "specify a servername different from <remote> (to disable SNI use an IP as <remote> and do not use this option)")
@@ -64,6 +69,9 @@ func main() {
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	alpns := parseOptionList(alpnList)
+	if sshFallbackPort > 0 && len(alpns) == 0 {
+		alpns = []string{"ssh"}
+	}
 	remotestr := flag.Arg(0)
 	localstr := flag.Arg(1)
 
@@ -85,6 +93,7 @@ func main() {
 		ServerName:         servername,
 		Silent:             silent,
 		NextProtos:         alpns,
+		SSHFallbackPort:    sshFallbackPort,
 	}
 
 	remote := strings.Split(remotestr, ":")
diff --git a/sclient.go b/sclient.go
index 94da38d..fe583f5 100644
--- a/sclient.go
+++ b/sclient.go
@@ -20,23 +20,18 @@ type Tunnel struct {
 	NextProtos         []string
 	ServerName         string
 	Silent             bool
+	SSHFallbackPort    int
 }
 
 // DialAndListen will create a test TLS connection to the remote address and then
 // begin listening locally. Each local connection will result in a separate remote connection.
 func (t *Tunnel) DialAndListen() error {
 	remote := t.RemoteAddress + ":" + strconv.Itoa(t.RemotePort)
-	conn, err := tls.Dial("tcp", remote,
-		&tls.Config{
-			ServerName:         t.ServerName,
-			NextProtos:         t.NextProtos,
-			InsecureSkipVerify: t.InsecureSkipVerify,
-		})
-
-	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "[warn] '%s' may not be accepting connections: %s\n", remote, err)
+	testConn, _, testErr := t.dialRemote(remote)
+	if testErr != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "[warn] '%s' may not be accepting connections: %s\n", remote, testErr)
 	} else {
-		_ = conn.Close()
+		_ = testConn.Close()
 	}
 
 	// use stdin/stdout
@@ -142,13 +137,7 @@ func pipe(r netReadWriteCloser, w netReadWriteCloser, t string) {
 }
 
 func (t *Tunnel) handleConnection(remote string, conn netReadWriteCloser) {
-	sclient, err := tls.Dial("tcp", remote,
-		&tls.Config{
-			ServerName:         t.ServerName,
-			NextProtos:         t.NextProtos,
-			InsecureSkipVerify: t.InsecureSkipVerify,
-		})
-
+	upstream, fallback, err := t.dialRemote(remote)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "[error] (remote) %s\n", err)
 		_ = conn.Close()
@@ -156,15 +145,46 @@ func (t *Tunnel) handleConnection(remote string, conn netReadWriteCloser) {
 	}
 
 	if !t.Silent {
+		target := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", t.RemoteAddress, t.RemotePort)
+		if fallback {
+			target = t.RemoteAddress + ":" + strconv.Itoa(t.SSHFallbackPort)
+		}
 		if conn.RemoteAddr().Network() == "stdio" {
-			_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, "(connected to %s:%d and reading from %s)\n",
-				t.RemoteAddress, t.RemotePort, conn.RemoteAddr().String())
+			_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, "(connected to %s and reading from %s)\n",
+				target, conn.RemoteAddr().String())
 		} else {
-			_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, "[connect] %s => %s:%d\n",
-				strings.Replace(conn.RemoteAddr().String(), "[::1]:", "localhost:", 1), t.RemoteAddress, t.RemotePort)
+			_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, "[connect] %s => %s\n",
+				strings.Replace(conn.RemoteAddr().String(), "[::1]:", "localhost:", 1), target)
 		}
 	}
 
-	go pipe(conn, sclient, "local")
-	pipe(sclient, conn, "remote")
+	go pipe(conn, upstream, "local")
+	pipe(upstream, conn, "remote")
+}
+
+func (t *Tunnel) dialRemote(remote string) (netReadWriteCloser, bool, error) {
+	tlsConn, err := tls.Dial("tcp", remote,
+		&tls.Config{
+			ServerName:         t.ServerName,
+			NextProtos:         t.NextProtos,
+			InsecureSkipVerify: t.InsecureSkipVerify,
+		})
+	if err == nil {
+		return tlsConn, false, nil
+	}
+
+	if t.SSHFallbackPort <= 0 {
+		return nil, false, err
+	}
+
+	fallbackAddr := t.RemoteAddress + ":" + strconv.Itoa(t.SSHFallbackPort)
+	if !t.Silent {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "[info] TLS+ssh failed (%s), falling back to %s\n", err, fallbackAddr)
+	}
+
+	tcpConn, tcpErr := net.Dial("tcp", fallbackAddr)
+	if tcpErr != nil {
+		return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("TLS failed: %w; fallback to %s also failed: %v", err, fallbackAddr, tcpErr)
+	}
+	return tcpConn, true, nil
 }