diff --git a/tarback.sh b/tarback.sh
index 8501c5e..6166130 100755
--- a/tarback.sh
+++ b/tarback.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ XDG_DATA_DIRS="${XDG_DATA_DIRS:-/usr/local/share:/usr/share}"
 
 TARBACK_REMOTE_DEFAULT=
 TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_COMMAND_DEFAULT=
+TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_ARGUMENT_COMMAND_DEFAULT=
 # shellcheck disable=SC2016 # disable variable not expanding hint
 TARBACK_TAR_CREATE_COMMAND_DEFAULT='tar c -C "$1" .'
 # shellcheck disable=SC2016 # disable variable not expanding hint
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ TARBACK_REMOTE="${TARBACK_REMOTE:-$TARBACK_REMOTE_DEFAULT}"
 # maybe the command needs to be transformed before being passed to the
 # remote command, see _transform_ssh_command for an example
 TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_COMMAND="${TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_COMMAND:-$TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_COMMAND_DEFAULT}"
+TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_ARGUMENT_COMMAND="${TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_ARGUMENT_COMMAND:-$TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_ARGUMENT_COMMAND_DEFAULT}"
 TARBACK_TAR_CREATE_COMMAND="${TARBACK_TAR_CREATE_COMMAND:-$TARBACK_TAR_CREATE_COMMAND_DEFAULT}"
 TARBACK_TAR_CREATE_COMMAND_FILE="${TARBACK_TAR_CREATE_COMMAND_FILE:-$TARBACK_TAR_CREATE_COMMAND_FILE_DEFAULT}"
 TARBACK_TAR_EXTRACT_COMMAND="${TARBACK_TAR_EXTRACT_COMMAND:-$TARBACK_TAR_EXTRACT_COMMAND_DEFAULT}"
@@ -45,40 +47,19 @@ _transform_split_name() {
     fi
 }
 
-_transform_ssh_command() {
-    command_name="$(echo "$TARBACK_REMOTE" | awk '{print $1}')"
-    if echo "$command_name" | grep -q 'ssh'; then
-        echo "'$1'"
-    else
-        echo "$1"
-    fi
-}
-
 _transform_remote() {
     r="$1"
-    # TODO add more transformers
-    for t in _transform_ssh_command "$TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_COMMAND"; do
-        [ -z "$t" ] && continue # skip empty transformers
-        r="$("$t" "$r")"
-    done
-    echo "$r"
-}
-
-_transform_argument_ssh() {
-    command_name="$(echo "$TARBACK_REMOTE" | awk '{print $1}')"
-    if echo "$command_name" | grep -q 'ssh'; then
-        echo "'$(printf '%s' "$1" | sed "s/'/'\\\\''/g")'"
-    else
-        echo "$1"
+    if [ -n "$TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_COMMAND" ]; then
+        r="$("$TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_COMMAND" "$r")"
     fi
+    echo "$r"
 }
 
 _transform_argument() {
     a="$1"
-    for t in _transform_argument_ssh; do
-        [ -z "$t" ] && continue # skip empty transformers
-        a="$("$t" "$a")"
-    done
+    if [ -n "$TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_ARGUMENT_COMMAND" ]; then
+        a="$("$TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_ARGUMENT_COMMAND" "$a")"
+    fi
     echo "$a"
 }
 
@@ -93,7 +74,7 @@ _create() {
         tarback_tar_create_command="$TARBACK_TAR_CREATE_COMMAND_FILE"
     fi
     tarback_tar_create_command="$(_transform_remote "$tarback_tar_create_command")"
-    $TARBACK_REMOTE sh -c "$tarback_tar_create_command" - "$(_transform_argument_ssh "$src")" \
+    $TARBACK_REMOTE sh -c "$tarback_tar_create_command" - "$(_transform_argument "$src")" \
         | $TARBACK_COMPRESSION \
         | $TARBACK_SPLIT "$dst"
 }
@@ -113,7 +94,7 @@ _restore() {
     tarback_tar_extract_command="$(_transform_remote "$tarback_tar_extract_command")"
     $TARBACK_MERGE "$src"* \
         | $TARBACK_COMPRESSION --decompress --stdout \
-        | $TARBACK_REMOTE sh -c "$tarback_tar_extract_command" - "$(_transform_argument_ssh "$dst")"
+        | $TARBACK_REMOTE sh -c "$tarback_tar_extract_command" - "$(_transform_argument "$dst")"
 }
 
 restore() {
@@ -124,25 +105,27 @@ short_options='p:'
 while getopts "$short_options" arg; do
     case "$arg" in
         p)
-            # source plugin file
-            sourced=false
-            for loc in $TARBACK_PLUGIN_SEARCH_PATH; do
-                if [ -e "$loc/tarback/$OPTARG.sh" ]; then
-                    # shellcheck disable=SC1090 # disable cannot follow source
-                    . "$loc/tarback/$OPTARG.sh"
-                    sourced=true
-                    break
+            for p in $(echo "$OPTARG" | tr ',' ' '); do
+                # source plugin file(s)
+                sourced=false
+                for loc in $TARBACK_PLUGIN_SEARCH_PATH; do
+                    if [ -e "$loc/tarback/$p.sh" ]; then
+                        # shellcheck disable=SC1090 # disable cannot follow source
+                        . "$loc/tarback/$p.sh"
+                        sourced=true
+                        break
+                    fi
+                done
+                if ! "$sourced"; then
+                    echo "couldn't find plugin $p" >&2
+                    exit 1
                 fi
             done
-            if ! "$sourced"; then
-                echo "couldn't find plugin $OPTARG" >&2
-                exit 1
-            fi
             shift 2
             ;;
         *)
             echo "unknown option $1" >&2
-            exit 1
+            #exit 1
             ;;
     esac
 done
diff --git a/tarback/ssh.sh b/tarback/ssh.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3326ee1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tarback/ssh.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+_tarback_plugin_ssh_transform_ssh_command() {
+    command_name="$(echo "$TARBACK_REMOTE" | awk '{print $1}')"
+    if echo "$command_name" | grep -q 'ssh'; then
+        echo "'$1'"
+    else
+        echo "$1"
+    fi
+}
+
+_tarback_plugin_ssh_transform_ssh_argument() {
+    command_name="$(echo "$TARBACK_REMOTE" | awk '{print $1}')"
+    if echo "$command_name" | grep -q 'ssh'; then
+        echo "'$(printf '%s' "$1" | sed "s/'/'\\\\''/g")'"
+    else
+        echo "$1"
+    fi
+}
+
+short_options='p:s:'
+while getopts "$short_options" arg; do
+    case "$arg" in
+        s)
+            TARBACK_REMOTE="$OPTARG"
+            shift 2
+            ;;
+        *)
+            echo "unknown option $1" >&2
+            #exit 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_COMMAND=_tarback_plugin_ssh_transform_ssh_command
+TARBACK_TRANSFORM_REMOTE_ARGUMENT_COMMAND=_tarback_plugin_ssh_transform_ssh_argument
+
diff --git a/tests/test-001-ssh.sh b/tests/test-001-ssh.sh
index 4bc13cf..bece3b5 100755
--- a/tests/test-001-ssh.sh
+++ b/tests/test-001-ssh.sh
@@ -8,24 +8,24 @@ export TARBACK_REMOTE='ssh localhost'
 
 # archive whole directory
 workdir="$(create_directories)"
-./tarback.sh create "$workdir/source" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
-./tarback.sh restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore"
+./tarback.sh -p ssh create "$workdir/source" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
+./tarback.sh -p ssh restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore"
 diff "$workdir/source" "$workdir/restore"
 rm -rf "$workdir"
 
 # archive single file
 workdir="$(create_directories)"
 filename="$(basename "$(find "$workdir/source" -type f)")"
-./tarback.sh create "$workdir/source/$filename" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
-./tarback.sh restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore/$filename"
+./tarback.sh -p ssh create "$workdir/source/$filename" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
+./tarback.sh -p ssh restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore/$filename"
 diff "$workdir/source" "$workdir/restore"
 rm -rf "$workdir"
 
 # split archive
 workdir="$(create_directories)"
 filename="$(basename "$(find "$workdir/source" -type f)")"
-TARBACK_SPLIT="split -b 10 -" ./tarback.sh create "$workdir/source/$filename" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
-TARBACK_SPLIT="split -b 10 -" ./tarback.sh restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore/$filename"
+TARBACK_SPLIT="split -b 10 -" ./tarback.sh -p ssh create "$workdir/source/$filename" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
+TARBACK_SPLIT="split -b 10 -" ./tarback.sh -p ssh restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore/$filename"
 diff "$workdir/source" "$workdir/restore"
 [ "$(ls -1 "$workdir/dest/"*.part* | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]
 rm -rf "$workdir"
diff --git a/tests/test-003-ssh-docker.sh b/tests/test-003-ssh-docker.sh
index 2746f82..aae6ba4 100755
--- a/tests/test-003-ssh-docker.sh
+++ b/tests/test-003-ssh-docker.sh
@@ -8,24 +8,24 @@ export TARBACK_REMOTE='ssh localhost'
 
 # archive whole directory
 workdir="$(create_directories)"
-./tarback.sh -p docker create "$workdir/source" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
-./tarback.sh -p docker restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore"
+./tarback.sh -p ssh,docker create "$workdir/source" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
+./tarback.sh -p ssh,docker restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore"
 diff "$workdir/source" "$workdir/restore"
 rm -rf "$workdir"
 
 # archive single file
 workdir="$(create_directories)"
 filename="$(basename "$(find "$workdir/source" -type f)")"
-./tarback.sh -p docker create "$workdir/source/$filename" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
-./tarback.sh -p docker restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore/$filename"
+./tarback.sh -p ssh,docker create "$workdir/source/$filename" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
+./tarback.sh -p ssh,docker restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore/$filename"
 diff "$workdir/source" "$workdir/restore"
 rm -rf "$workdir"
 
 # split archive
 workdir="$(create_directories)"
 filename="$(basename "$(find "$workdir/source" -type f)")"
-TARBACK_SPLIT="split -b 10 -" ./tarback.sh -p docker create "$workdir/source/$filename" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
-TARBACK_SPLIT="split -b 10 -" ./tarback.sh -p docker restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore/$filename"
+TARBACK_SPLIT="split -b 10 -" ./tarback.sh -p ssh,docker create "$workdir/source/$filename" "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz"
+TARBACK_SPLIT="split -b 10 -" ./tarback.sh -p ssh,docker restore "$workdir/dest/source.tar.xz" "$workdir/restore/$filename"
 diff "$workdir/source" "$workdir/restore"
 [ "$(ls -1 "$workdir/dest/"*.part* | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]
 rm -rf "$workdir"