diff --git a/fsspec/gui.py b/fsspec/gui.py
index 2e47fdab7..bbc450c77 100644
--- a/fsspec/gui.py
+++ b/fsspec/gui.py
@@ -262,7 +262,9 @@ def _setup(self):
             name="protocol",
             align="center",
         )
-        self.kwargs = pn.widgets.TextInput(name="kwargs", value="{}", align="center")
+        self.kwargs = pn.widgets.TextInput(
+            name="kwargs", value=self.init_kwargs, align="center"
+        )
         self.go = pn.widgets.Button(name="⇨", align="end", width=45)
         self.main = SingleSelect(size=10)
         self.home = pn.widgets.Button(name="🏠", width=40, height=30, align="end")
diff --git a/fsspec/tests/test_gui.py b/fsspec/tests/test_gui.py
index f94433331..00586389f 100644
--- a/fsspec/tests/test_gui.py
+++ b/fsspec/tests/test_gui.py
@@ -8,3 +8,12 @@ def test_basic():
 
     gui = fsspec.gui.FileSelector()
     assert "url" in str(gui.panel)
+
+
+def test_kwargs(tmpdir):
+    """confirm kwargs are passed to the filesystem instance"""
+    import fsspec.gui
+
+    gui = fsspec.gui.FileSelector(f"file://{tmpdir}", kwargs="{'auto_mkdir': True}")
+
+    assert gui.fs.auto_mkdir