diff --git a/pulseaudio-tcp b/pulseaudio-tcp
index 6be38e4..3566d5d 100644
--- a/pulseaudio-tcp
+++ b/pulseaudio-tcp
@@ -24,8 +24,10 @@ usage() {
     cat >&2 <<EOF
 Usage: $0 [OPTIONS] OPERATION
 Options:
- --debug  Enable additional debug output for start and stop operations.
- --no-gui Do not display GUI dialogs, use terminal for input and output.
+ --debug         Enable additional debug output for start and stop operations.
+ --no-gui        Do not display GUI dialogs, use terminal for input and output.
+ --cookie COOKIE Pass Pulseaudio cookie of remote host as option value instead
+                 of copying it from remote_host.
 Operations:
  setup    Interactively gather settings.
  start    Start redirection to remote host.
@@ -273,9 +275,15 @@ do_status() {
     return "$rv"
 }
 
-# Acquire PulseAudio cookie from remote host
+# Use PulseAudio cookie from --cookie option value or remote host
 sync_pa_cookie() {
-    if _scp "$remote_user"@"$remote_ip":.config/pulse/cookie ~/.config/pulse/cookie ; then
+    if ! [[ -d ~/.config/pulse ]] || ! [[ -w ~/.config/pulse ]] ; then
+        error "Local directory ~/.config/pulse does not exist or is not writeable."
+        return 1
+    elif [[ -n $cookie ]] ; then
+        debug "Using PulseAudio cookie value as passed on the command line ..."
+        printf "%s" "$cookie" > ~/.config/pulse/cookie
+    elif _scp "$remote_user"@"$remote_ip":.config/pulse/cookie ~/.config/pulse/cookie ; then
         debug "Synced PulseAudio cookie from remote host $remote_ip."
         return 0
     else
@@ -457,9 +465,15 @@ do_stop() {
 # Arguments
 
 operation=
+cookie=
 no_more_options=false
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034
+
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]] ; do
+    arg=$1
+    shift
+    echo "DEBUG: parsing arg=$arg .." >&2
 
-for arg in "$@" ; do
     case "$arg" in
         --)
             no_more_options=true
@@ -467,6 +481,11 @@ for arg in "$@" ; do
         --*)
             "$no_more_options" && { gui=false error "Option arguments may not preceed non-option arguments." ; exit 1 ; }
         ;;&
+        --cookie)
+            [[ $# -eq 0 ]] && { gui=false error "Missing argument for option \"--cookie\"" ; exit 1 ; }
+            cookie=$1
+            shift
+            ;;
         --debug)
             debug_cmdline=true
             ;;