diff --git a/src/borg/helpers/process.py b/src/borg/helpers/process.py
index 14209c5b5..59b454b2b 100644
--- a/src/borg/helpers/process.py
+++ b/src/borg/helpers/process.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import signal
 import subprocess
 import sys
 
+from .. import __version__
+
 from ..logger import create_logger
 logger = create_logger()
 
@@ -115,3 +117,29 @@ def popen_with_error_handling(cmd_line: str, log_prefix='', **kwargs):
 
 def is_terminal(fd=sys.stdout):
     return hasattr(fd, 'isatty') and fd.isatty() and (sys.platform != 'win32' or 'ANSICON' in os.environ)
+
+
+def prepare_subprocess_env(system, env=None):
+    """
+    Prepare the environment for a subprocess we are going to create.
+
+    :param system: True for preparing to invoke system-installed binaries,
+                   False for stuff inside the pyinstaller environment (like borg, python).
+    :param env: optionally give a environment dict here. if not given, default to os.environ.
+    :return: a modified copy of the environment
+    """
+    env = dict(env if env is not None else os.environ)
+    if system:
+        # a pyinstaller binary's bootloader modifies LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/tmp/_ME...,
+        # but we do not want that system binaries (like ssh or other) pick up
+        # (non-matching) libraries from there.
+        # thus we install the original LDLP, before pyinstaller has modified it:
+        lp_key = 'LD_LIBRARY_PATH'
+        lp_orig = env.get(lp_key + '_ORIG')  # pyinstaller >= 20160820 has this
+        if lp_orig is not None:
+            env[lp_key] = lp_orig
+    # security: do not give secrets to subprocess
+    env.pop('BORG_PASSPHRASE', None)
+    # for information, give borg version to the subprocess
+    env['BORG_VERSION'] = __version__
+    return env
diff --git a/src/borg/remote.py b/src/borg/remote.py
index 277f388c6..e02eca0dc 100644
--- a/src/borg/remote.py
+++ b/src/borg/remote.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ from .helpers import replace_placeholders
 from .helpers import sysinfo
 from .helpers import format_file_size
 from .helpers import truncate_and_unlink
+from .helpers import prepare_subprocess_env
 from .logger import create_logger, setup_logging
 from .repository import Repository
 from .version import parse_version, format_version
@@ -530,21 +531,12 @@ class RemoteRepository:
         self.server_version = parse_version('1.0.8')  # fallback version if server is too old to send version information
         self.p = None
         testing = location.host == '__testsuite__'
+        # when testing, we invoke and talk to a borg process directly (no ssh).
+        # when not testing, we invoke the system-installed ssh binary to talk to a remote borg.
+        env = prepare_subprocess_env(system=not testing)
         borg_cmd = self.borg_cmd(args, testing)
-        env = dict(os.environ)
         if not testing:
             borg_cmd = self.ssh_cmd(location) + borg_cmd
-            # pyinstaller binary modifies LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/tmp/_ME... but we do not want
-            # that the system's ssh binary picks up (non-matching) libraries from there.
-            # thus we install the original LDLP, before pyinstaller has modified it:
-            lp_key = 'LD_LIBRARY_PATH'
-            lp_orig = env.get(lp_key + '_ORIG')  # pyinstaller >= 20160820 has this
-            if lp_orig is not None:
-                env[lp_key] = lp_orig
-            else:
-                env.pop(lp_key, None)
-        env.pop('BORG_PASSPHRASE', None)  # security: do not give secrets to subprocess
-        env['BORG_VERSION'] = __version__
         logger.debug('SSH command line: %s', borg_cmd)
         self.p = Popen(borg_cmd, bufsize=0, stdin=PIPE, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE, env=env)
         self.stdin_fd = self.p.stdin.fileno()