diff --git a/act/container/docker_build.go b/act/container/docker_build.go
index c108da73..1c840606 100644
--- a/act/container/docker_build.go
+++ b/act/container/docker_build.go
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/builder/dockerignore"
-	"github.com/docker/docker/client"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/archive"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/fileutils"
 	"github.com/nektos/act/pkg/common"
@@ -30,11 +29,10 @@ func NewDockerBuildExecutor(input NewDockerBuildExecutorInput) common.Executor {
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		cli, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv)
+		cli, err := GetDockerClient(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		cli.NegotiateAPIVersion(ctx)
 
 		logger.Debugf("Building image from '%v'", input.ContextDir)
 
diff --git a/act/container/docker_images.go b/act/container/docker_images.go
index 2cb298ca..efe267ac 100644
--- a/act/container/docker_images.go
+++ b/act/container/docker_images.go
@@ -5,17 +5,15 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types/filters"
-	"github.com/docker/docker/client"
 )
 
 // ImageExistsLocally returns a boolean indicating if an image with the
 // requested name (and tag) exist in the local docker image store
 func ImageExistsLocally(ctx context.Context, imageName string) (bool, error) {
-	cli, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv)
+	cli, err := GetDockerClient(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
-	cli.NegotiateAPIVersion(ctx)
 
 	filters := filters.NewArgs()
 	filters.Add("reference", imageName)
diff --git a/act/container/docker_pull.go b/act/container/docker_pull.go
index 13fdaa85..6a01856e 100644
--- a/act/container/docker_pull.go
+++ b/act/container/docker_pull.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types"
-	"github.com/docker/docker/client"
 	"github.com/nektos/act/pkg/common"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -48,11 +47,10 @@ func NewDockerPullExecutor(input NewDockerPullExecutorInput) common.Executor {
 		imageRef := cleanImage(input.Image)
 		logger.Debugf("pulling image '%v'", imageRef)
 
-		cli, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv)
+		cli, err := GetDockerClient(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		cli.NegotiateAPIVersion(ctx)
 
 		reader, err := cli.ImagePull(ctx, imageRef, types.ImagePullOptions{})
 		_ = logDockerResponse(logger, reader, err != nil)
diff --git a/act/container/docker_run.go b/act/container/docker_run.go
index 8a537264..69731bf0 100644
--- a/act/container/docker_run.go
+++ b/act/container/docker_run.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/go-git/go-billy/v5/osfs"
 	"github.com/go-git/go-git/v5/plumbing/format/gitignore"
 
+	"github.com/docker/cli/cli/connhelper"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types/container"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types/mount"
@@ -137,16 +138,46 @@ type containerReference struct {
 	input *NewContainerInput
 }
 
+func GetDockerClient(ctx context.Context) (*client.Client, error) {
+	var err error
+	var cli *client.Client
+
+	// TODO: this should maybe need to be a global option, not hidden in here?
+	//       though i'm not sure how that works out when there's another Executor :D
+	//		 I really would like something that works on OSX native for eg
+	dockerHost := os.Getenv("DOCKER_HOST")
+
+	if strings.HasPrefix(dockerHost, "ssh://") {
+		var helper *connhelper.ConnectionHelper
+
+		helper, err = connhelper.GetConnectionHelper(dockerHost)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		cli, err = client.NewClientWithOpts(
+			client.WithHost(helper.Host),
+			client.WithDialContext(helper.Dialer),
+		)
+	} else {
+		cli, err = client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.WithStack(err)
+	}
+	cli.NegotiateAPIVersion(ctx)
+
+	return cli, err
+}
+
 func (cr *containerReference) connect() common.Executor {
 	return func(ctx context.Context) error {
 		if cr.cli != nil {
 			return nil
 		}
-		cli, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv)
+		cli, err := GetDockerClient(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
-			return errors.WithStack(err)
+			return err
 		}
-		cli.NegotiateAPIVersion(ctx)
 		cr.cli = cli
 		return nil
 	}
diff --git a/act/container/docker_volume.go b/act/container/docker_volume.go
index a0b533f5..787a49a6 100644
--- a/act/container/docker_volume.go
+++ b/act/container/docker_volume.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package container
 import (
 	"context"
 
-	"github.com/docker/docker/client"
 	"github.com/nektos/act/pkg/common"
 )
 
@@ -17,11 +16,10 @@ func NewDockerVolumeRemoveExecutor(volume string, force bool) common.Executor {
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		cli, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv)
+		cli, err := GetDockerClient(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		cli.NegotiateAPIVersion(ctx)
 
 		return cli.VolumeRemove(ctx, volume, force)
 	}