diff --git a/common/nnn/plugins/preview b/common/nnn/plugins/preview
index d437c5e..8553652 100755
--- a/common/nnn/plugins/preview
+++ b/common/nnn/plugins/preview
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ else
 	TERMINAL="${TERMINAL:-xterm}"
 fi
 
+# we can't actually work if we're about to try the kitty method over SSH, so just exit
+[ -n "$SSH_CONNECTION" ] && [ "$TERMINAL" = "kitty" ] && exit 0
+
 if [ -z "$SPLIT" ] && [ $(($(tput lines) * 2)) -gt "$(tput cols)" ]; then
 	SPLIT='h'
 elif [ "$SPLIT" != 'h' ]; then