diff --git a/ssh/streamlocal.go b/ssh/streamlocal.go
index a2dccc6..b171b33 100644
--- a/ssh/streamlocal.go
+++ b/ssh/streamlocal.go
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ type streamLocalChannelForwardMsg struct {
 
 // ListenUnix is similar to ListenTCP but uses a Unix domain socket.
 func (c *Client) ListenUnix(socketPath string) (net.Listener, error) {
+	c.handleForwardsOnce.Do(c.handleForwards)
 	m := streamLocalChannelForwardMsg{
 		socketPath,
 	}