diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f1cea655..e773d4e0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Support for `gopher` and `gemini` URLs
 - Unicode 13 support
 - Option to run command on bell which can be set in `bell.command`
+- Fallback to program specified in `$SHELL` variable on Linux/BSD if it is present
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/alacritty_terminal/src/tty/unix.rs b/alacritty_terminal/src/tty/unix.rs
index b6807cc2..b373ada2 100644
--- a/alacritty_terminal/src/tty/unix.rs
+++ b/alacritty_terminal/src/tty/unix.rs
@@ -1,18 +1,7 @@
 //! TTY related functionality.
 
-use crate::config::{Config, Program};
-use crate::event::OnResize;
-use crate::term::SizeInfo;
-use crate::tty::{ChildEvent, EventedPty, EventedReadWrite};
-
-use libc::{self, c_int, pid_t, winsize, TIOCSCTTY};
-use log::error;
-use nix::pty::openpty;
-#[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "macos"))]
-use nix::sys::termios::{self, InputFlags, SetArg};
-use signal_hook::{self as sighook, iterator::Signals};
-
-use mio::unix::EventedFd;
+use std::borrow::Cow;
+use std::env;
 use std::ffi::CStr;
 use std::fs::File;
 use std::io;
@@ -25,6 +14,19 @@ use std::process::{Child, Command, Stdio};
 use std::ptr;
 use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering};
 
+use libc::{self, c_int, pid_t, winsize, TIOCSCTTY};
+use log::error;
+use mio::unix::EventedFd;
+use nix::pty::openpty;
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "macos"))]
+use nix::sys::termios::{self, InputFlags, SetArg};
+use signal_hook::{self as sighook, iterator::Signals};
+
+use crate::config::{Config, Program};
+use crate::event::OnResize;
+use crate::term::SizeInfo;
+use crate::tty::{ChildEvent, EventedPty, EventedReadWrite};
+
 /// Process ID of child process.
 ///
 /// Necessary to put this in static storage for `SIGCHLD` to have access.
@@ -128,13 +130,22 @@ pub struct Pty {
     signals_token: mio::Token,
 }
 
+#[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
+fn default_shell(pw: &Passwd<'_>) -> Program {
+    let shell_name = pw.shell.rsplit('/').next().unwrap();
+    let argv = vec![String::from("-c"), format!("exec -a -{} {}", shell_name, pw.shell)];
+
+    Program::WithArgs { program: "/bin/bash".to_owned(), args: argv }
+}
+
+#[cfg(not(target_os = "macos"))]
+fn default_shell(pw: &Passwd<'_>) -> Program {
+    Program::Just(env::var("SHELL").unwrap_or_else(|_| pw.shell.to_owned()))
+}
+
 /// Create a new TTY and return a handle to interact with it.
 pub fn new<C>(config: &Config<C>, size: &SizeInfo, window_id: Option<usize>) -> Pty {
-    let win_size = size.to_winsize();
-    let mut buf = [0; 1024];
-    let pw = get_pw_entry(&mut buf);
-
-    let (master, slave) = make_pty(win_size);
+    let (master, slave) = make_pty(size.to_winsize());
 
     #[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "macos"))]
     {
@@ -145,17 +156,15 @@ pub fn new<C>(config: &Config<C>, size: &SizeInfo, window_id: Option<usize>) ->
         }
     }
 
-    let default_shell = if cfg!(target_os = "macos") {
-        let shell_name = pw.shell.rsplit('/').next().unwrap();
-        let argv = vec![String::from("-c"), format!("exec -a -{} {}", shell_name, pw.shell)];
+    let mut buf = [0; 1024];
+    let pw = get_pw_entry(&mut buf);
 
-        Program::WithArgs { program: "/bin/bash".to_owned(), args: argv }
-    } else {
-        Program::Just(pw.shell.to_owned())
+    let shell = match config.shell.as_ref() {
+        Some(shell) => Cow::Borrowed(shell),
+        None => Cow::Owned(default_shell(&pw)),
     };
-    let shell = config.shell.as_ref().unwrap_or(&default_shell);
 
-    let mut builder = Command::new(&*shell.program());
+    let mut builder = Command::new(shell.program());
     for arg in shell.args() {
         builder.arg(arg);
     }
@@ -171,9 +180,12 @@ pub fn new<C>(config: &Config<C>, size: &SizeInfo, window_id: Option<usize>) ->
     // Setup shell environment.
     builder.env("LOGNAME", pw.name);
     builder.env("USER", pw.name);
-    builder.env("SHELL", pw.shell);
     builder.env("HOME", pw.dir);
 
+    // Set $SHELL environment variable on macOS, since login does not do it for us.
+    #[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
+    builder.env("SHELL", config.shell.as_ref().map(|sh| sh.program()).unwrap_or(pw.shell));
+
     if let Some(window_id) = window_id {
         builder.env("WINDOWID", format!("{}", window_id));
     }