diff --git a/include/Connection.h b/include/Connection.h
index 79a63c52..e1fd2a81 100644
--- a/include/Connection.h
+++ b/include/Connection.h
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ class Connection {
     size_t m_counter;
 
  protected:
-    int connectPoll(int fd, struct addrinfo* ai_ptr);
+    int connectPoll(int fd, const sockaddr* ai_ptr, const socklen_t ai_addrlen);
+    inline int local();
 
     char m_name[MC_NI_MAXHOST + 1 + MC_NI_MAXSERV];
     char m_host[MC_NI_MAXHOST];
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ class Connection {
     int m_socketFd;
     bool m_alive;
     bool m_hasAlias;
+    bool m_local;
     time_t m_deadUntil;
     io::BufferWriter* m_buffer_writer; // for send
     io::BufferReader* m_buffer_reader; // for recv
diff --git a/libmc/_client.pyx b/libmc/_client.pyx
index 903a64e5..6472e4b6 100644
--- a/libmc/_client.pyx
+++ b/libmc/_client.pyx
@@ -378,19 +378,25 @@ cdef class PyClient:
 
         servers_ = []
         for srv in servers:
-            addr_alias = srv.split(' ')
+            addr_alias = srv.rsplit(' ', 1)
             addr = addr_alias[0]
             if len(addr_alias) == 1:
                 alias = None
+            elif addr.endswith("\\"):
+                addr = srv
+                alias = None
             else:
                 alias = addr_alias[1]
-
-            host_port = addr.split(':')
-            host = host_port[0]
-            if len(host_port) == 1:
-                port = MC_DEFAULT_PORT
+            
+            if addr.startswith("/"):
+                port = 0
             else:
-                port = int(host_port[1])
+                host_port = addr.split(':')
+                host = host_port[0]
+                if len(host_port) == 1:
+                    port = MC_DEFAULT_PORT
+                else:
+                    port = int(host_port[1])
             if PY_MAJOR_VERSION > 2:
                 host = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(host)
                 alias = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(alias) if alias else None
diff --git a/misc/memcached_server b/misc/memcached_server
index 77a71ac8..b08dd0cb 100755
--- a/misc/memcached_server
+++ b/misc/memcached_server
@@ -32,6 +32,18 @@ function start()
     fi
 }
 
+function unix()
+{
+    name="${1:-unix_test}"
+    if [ ! -f $basedir/var/log/${name}.log ]; then
+        mkdir -p $basedir/var/log
+        touch $basedir/var/log/${name}.log
+    fi
+    mkdir -p $basedir/var/run
+    $cmd -d -u $USER -s $basedir/var/run/${name}.socket -t $threads -m ${memory} -P $basedir/var/run/${name}.pid > $basedir/var/log/${name}.log 2>&1
+    echo "Starting the memcached server on '$basedir/var/run/${name}.socket'... "
+}
+
 function stop()
 {
     port="$1"
@@ -78,6 +90,19 @@ case "$1" in
             wait
         fi
         ;;
+    unix)
+        shift
+        unix $@
+        ;;
+    unixstop)
+        if [ `ls $basedir/var/run/ | grep -c .pid` -ge 1 ]; then
+            names="`basename $basedir/var/run/*.pid | cut -d. -f1`"
+            for name in $names; do
+                stop $name &
+            done
+        fi
+        wait
+        ;;
     *)
         printf 'Usage: %s {start|stop|restart} <port>\n' "$prog"
         exit 1
diff --git a/src/Connection.cpp b/src/Connection.cpp
index 2be7de55..af92b247 100644
--- a/src/Connection.cpp
+++ b/src/Connection.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <sys/un.h>
 #include <sys/poll.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
@@ -21,8 +22,8 @@ namespace mc {
 
 Connection::Connection()
     : m_counter(0), m_port(0), m_socketFd(-1),
-      m_alive(false), m_hasAlias(false), m_deadUntil(0),
-      m_connectTimeout(MC_DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT),
+      m_alive(false), m_hasAlias(false), m_local(false),
+      m_deadUntil(0), m_connectTimeout(MC_DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT),
       m_retryTimeout(MC_DEFAULT_RETRY_TIMEOUT),
       m_maxRetries(MC_DEFAULT_MAX_RETRIES), m_retires(0) {
   m_name[0] = '\0';
@@ -45,9 +46,14 @@ Connection::~Connection() {
 int Connection::init(const char* host, uint32_t port, const char* alias) {
   snprintf(m_host, sizeof m_host, "%s", host);
   m_port = port;
+  m_local = m_host[0] == '/'; // un.h UNIX_PATH_MAX < netdb.h NI_MAXHOST
   if (alias == NULL) {
     m_hasAlias = false;
-    snprintf(m_name, sizeof m_name, "%s:%u", m_host, m_port);
+    if (m_local) {
+      snprintf(m_name, sizeof m_name, "%s", m_host);
+    } else {
+      snprintf(m_name, sizeof m_name, "%s:%u", m_host, m_port);
+    }
   } else {
     m_hasAlias = true;
     snprintf(m_name, sizeof m_name, "%s", alias);
@@ -59,6 +65,10 @@ int Connection::init(const char* host, uint32_t port, const char* alias) {
 int Connection::connect() {
   assert(!m_alive);
   this->close();
+  if (m_local) {
+    return local();
+  }
+
   struct addrinfo hints, *server_addrinfo = NULL, *ai_ptr = NULL;
   memset(&hints, 0, sizeof hints);
   hints.ai_family = AF_INET;
@@ -104,7 +114,7 @@ int Connection::connect() {
     }
 
     // make sure the connection is established
-    if (connectPoll(fd, ai_ptr) == 0) {
+    if (connectPoll(fd, ai_ptr->ai_addr, ai_ptr->ai_addrlen) == 0) {
       m_socketFd = fd;
       m_alive = true;
       break;
@@ -121,8 +131,38 @@ int Connection::connect() {
   return m_alive ? 0 : -1;
 }
 
-int Connection::connectPoll(int fd, struct addrinfo* ai_ptr) {
-  int conn_rv = ::connect(fd, ai_ptr->ai_addr, ai_ptr->ai_addrlen);
+inline int Connection::local() {
+  int fd, flags, opt_keepalive = 1;
+
+  if ((fd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) == -1) {
+    log_err("socket()");
+    return -1;
+  }
+
+  if ((flags = fcntl(fd, F_GETFL, 0)) < 0 ||
+      fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, flags | O_NONBLOCK) < 0) {
+      log_err("setting O_NONBLOCK");
+      ::close(fd);
+      return -1;
+  }
+
+  setsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_KEEPALIVE, (void *)&opt_keepalive, sizeof opt_keepalive);
+
+  struct sockaddr_un addr;
+  memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr));
+  addr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
+  strncpy(addr.sun_path, m_host, sizeof(addr.sun_path) - 1);
+  assert(strcmp(addr.sun_path, m_host) == 0);
+  if (connectPoll(fd, (const struct sockaddr *)&addr, sizeof addr) != 0) {
+    return -1;
+  }
+  m_socketFd = fd;
+  m_alive = true;
+  return 0;
+}
+
+int Connection::connectPoll(int fd, const sockaddr* ai_addr, const socklen_t ai_addrlen) {
+  int conn_rv = ::connect(fd, ai_addr, ai_addrlen);
   if (conn_rv == 0) {
     return 0;
   }
diff --git a/tests/test_common.h b/tests/test_common.h
index 7db98a01..56863f08 100644
--- a/tests/test_common.h
+++ b/tests/test_common.h
@@ -73,6 +73,11 @@ mc::Client* newClient(int n) {
     "sierra",
     "tango"
   };
+  return md5Client(hosts, ports, n, aliases);
+}
+
+mc::Client* md5Client(const char* const * hosts, const uint32_t* ports, const size_t n,
+                      const char* const * aliases = NULL) {
   mc::Client* client = new mc::Client();
   client->config(CFG_HASH_FUNCTION, OPT_HASH_MD5);
   client->init(hosts, ports, n, aliases);
@@ -87,6 +92,12 @@ mc::Client* newClient(int n) {
   return client;
 }
 
+mc::Client* newUnixClient() {
+  const char * hosts[] = { "/tmp/env_mc_dev/var/run/unix_test.socket" };
+  const uint32_t ports[] = { 0 };
+  return md5Client(hosts, ports, 1);
+}
+
 
 std::string get_resource_path(const char* basename) {
   std::string this_path(__FILE__);
diff --git a/tests/test_unix.cpp b/tests/test_unix.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d2ed79d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_unix.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#include "Client.h"
+#include "test_common.h"
+
+#include <cassert>
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+
+using douban::mc::Client;
+using douban::mc::tests::newUnixClient;
+
+TEST(test_unix, establish_connection) {
+  Client* client = newUnixClient();
+  EXPECT_TRUE(client != NULL);
+  delete client;
+}
\ No newline at end of file