diff --git a/scripts/gc-hosts.sh b/scripts/gc-hosts.sh
index a9ba358..3a87cd0 100755
--- a/scripts/gc-hosts.sh
+++ b/scripts/gc-hosts.sh
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ if [[ "$DRY_RUN" -eq 1 ]]; then
       echo "  ssh ${SSH_OPTS[*]} $target 'sudo -n nix-collect-garbage -d'"
       echo "  # fallback: ssh ... $target 'nix-collect-garbage -d'"
     else
-      echo "  ssh ${SSH_OPTS[*]} $target 'nix-collect-garbage -d'"
+      echo "  ssh ${SSH_OPTS[*]} $target '. /nix/var/nix/profiles/default/etc/profile.d/nix-daemon.sh && nix-collect-garbage -d'"
     fi
   done
   exit 0
@@ -147,7 +147,10 @@ gc_one() {
       echo "ok(user)"; return
     fi
   else
-    if ssh "${SSH_OPTS[@]}" "$target" "nix-collect-garbage -d" \
+    # Non-NixOS node: BatchMode SSH doesn't source the Nix daemon profile, so
+    # nix-collect-garbage won't be on PATH unless we source it explicitly.
+    local nix_profile='. /nix/var/nix/profiles/default/etc/profile.d/nix-daemon.sh 2>/dev/null || true'
+    if ssh "${SSH_OPTS[@]}" "$target" "$nix_profile && nix-collect-garbage -d" \
         >>"$logfile" 2>>"$logfile"; then
       echo "ok"; return
     fi