diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 58a4f76..34e6507 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -248,9 +248,11 @@ DWSHELL_REMOTE_PASSWORD=… dwshell alice@myhost -c "id"
 
 - `-c <command>` — run a command non-interactively and exit with its code.
   Long commands are fine — they are split across several protocol messages, the
-  way typing them would be — but the *remote shell* still applies its own limit:
-  `cmd.exe` on Windows truncates a command line past 8191 characters, so pass a
-  bigger script with `dwshell put` and run it by path.
+  way typing them would be — but the *remote shell* still caps how long a single
+  command line may be, and the cap differs from shell to shell. A remote that
+  truncates the line is reported as such instead of leaving you waiting on
+  output that can never arrive; pass a bigger script with `dwshell put` and run
+  it by path.
 - `--own` / `--shared` — resolve `<host>` among owned agents / incoming shares only.
 - `--term <value>` — TERM to send to a *nix remote (default: your local `$TERM`).
 - `--no-term` — do not send a TERM to the remote.
diff --git a/internal/app/shell/run.go b/internal/app/shell/run.go
index 0727809..ead0e47 100644
--- a/internal/app/shell/run.go
+++ b/internal/app/shell/run.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package shell
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 var (
 	reBegin = regexp.MustCompile(`__DWSH_BEGIN__\r?\n`)
 	reRC    = regexp.MustCompile(`__DWSH_RC_(\d+)_END__`)
+	reTrunc = regexp.MustCompile(`__DWSH_TRUNC_(\d+)_END__`)
 )
 
 // RunResult is the outcome of a non-interactive command.
@@ -38,6 +40,30 @@ func wrapCommand(cmd string, os remote.OS) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("echo __DWSH_BEGIN__; ( %s ); echo __DWSH_RC_$?_END__\r", cmd)
 }
 
+// errTruncated reports a command line the remote shell cut short. How long a
+// line a remote accepts is the remote shell's own business and differs between
+// shells, so dwshell does not try to predict it — it reports the truncation
+// when it happens instead.
+var errTruncated = errors.New(
+	"the remote shell truncated the command line, so it ran a partial command and the exit-code marker was lost; " +
+		"send a shorter command, or upload it with `dwshell put` and run it by path")
+
+// probeLine is typed as its own short line right after the command. A shell
+// reads it only once it has read and run the command line, so its marker can
+// never come back before that command's RC sentinel — unless the remote
+// truncated the command line and took the sentinel with it. That makes a lost
+// sentinel detectable on any remote, whatever its line limit happens to be.
+//
+// Like the RC sentinel, the marker is assembled by the remote (`$?` /
+// %errorlevel%) so that the PTY echoing the typed line back, or a command that
+// reads its stdin and prints it, cannot be mistaken for the marker itself.
+func probeLine(os remote.OS) string {
+	if os == remote.OSWindows {
+		return "echo __DWSH_TRUNC_%errorlevel%_END__\r"
+	}
+	return "echo __DWSH_TRUNC_$?_END__\r"
+}
+
 // Run executes a single command non-interactively and returns its output and
 // exit code. It opens a fresh shell, sends the wrapped command, and reads until
 // the RC sentinel (or ctx/timeout fires).
@@ -57,6 +83,9 @@ func Run(ctx context.Context, sess *session.Session, os remote.OS, command strin
 	if err := sh.Input(wrapCommand(command, os)); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if err := sh.Input(probeLine(os)); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
 	var buf bytes.Buffer
 
@@ -90,6 +119,11 @@ func Run(ctx context.Context, sess *session.Session, os remote.OS, command strin
 				}
 				return res, err
 			}
+			// The probe came back but the sentinel never did: the remote cut
+			// the command line short and ran what was left of it.
+			if reTrunc.Match(buf.Bytes()) {
+				return nil, errTruncated
+			}
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/app/shell/run_test.go b/internal/app/shell/run_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0cc41b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/app/shell/run_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package shell
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/porech/dwshell/internal/remote"
+)
+
+// The probe marker must be assembled by the remote shell, so that neither the
+// PTY echoing the typed line back nor a command printing its own stdin can be
+// mistaken for the marker.
+func TestProbeMarkerCannotMatchTheTypedLine(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, os := range []remote.OS{remote.OSWindows, remote.OSLinux} {
+		typed := probeLine(os)
+		if reTrunc.MatchString(typed) {
+			t.Errorf("the typed probe line %q matches the marker regexp", typed)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestProbeMarkerMatchesWhatTheShellPrints(t *testing.T) {
+	if !reTrunc.MatchString("__DWSH_TRUNC_0_END__\r\n") {
+		t.Error("the printed probe marker is not recognised")
+	}
+}
+
+// A probe line has to survive the very truncation it detects, so it must stay
+// far below any line limit a remote shell might impose.
+func TestProbeLineIsShort(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, os := range []remote.OS{remote.OSWindows, remote.OSLinux} {
+		if n := len(probeLine(os)); n > 100 {
+			t.Errorf("probe line for %v is %d characters, too long to survive truncation", os, n)
+		}
+	}
+}