diff --git a/lib/ssh.c b/lib/ssh.c
index 434b80d06..118611efc 100644
--- a/lib/ssh.c
+++ b/lib/ssh.c
@@ -1599,6 +1599,11 @@ static CURLcode ssh_statemach_act(struct connectdata *conn, bool *block)
            figure out a "real" bitmask */
         sshc->orig_waitfor = data->req.keepon;
 
+        /* we want to use the _sending_ function even when the socket turns
+           out readable as the underlying libssh2 sftp send function will deal
+           with both accordingly */
+        conn->cselect_bits = CURL_CSELECT_OUT;
+
         /* since we don't really wait for anything at this point, we want the
            state machine to move on as soon as possible so we set a very short
            timeout here */