diff --git a/redis.conf b/redis.conf
index b087417a8ca81fc16714bba1cf0e7f4e0fdb372e..75420f64913e56364d1aa1ced631276cf4e2da7c 100644
--- a/redis.conf
+++ b/redis.conf
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ daemonize no
 # default. You can specify a custom pid file location here.
 pidfile /var/run/redis.pid
 
-# Accept connections on the specified port, default is 6379
+# Accept connections on the specified port, default is 6379.
+# Use port -1 to disable listening on a network interface.
 port 6379
 
 # If you want you can bind a single interface, if the bind option is not
@@ -28,6 +29,11 @@ port 6379
 #
 # bind 127.0.0.1
 
+# Specify the path for the domain socket that will be used to listen for
+# incoming connections. If not specified, Redis will not use a domain socket.
+#
+# socket /tmp/redis.sock
+
 # Close the connection after a client is idle for N seconds (0 to disable)
 timeout 300
 
diff --git a/src/aof.c b/src/aof.c
index f8b92d2d3301ebee556c02612c0123461b195728..942d4afd20a064dd12a0096974e410ef36cac8e5 100644
--- a/src/aof.c
+++ b/src/aof.c
@@ -588,7 +588,8 @@ int rewriteAppendOnlyFileBackground(void) {
         char tmpfile[256];
 
         if (server.vm_enabled) vmReopenSwapFile();
-        close(server.fd);
+        if (server.ipfd > 0) close(server.ipfd);
+        if (server.sofd > 0) close(server.sofd);
         snprintf(tmpfile,256,"temp-rewriteaof-bg-%d.aof", (int) getpid());
         if (rewriteAppendOnlyFile(tmpfile) == REDIS_OK) {
             _exit(0);
diff --git a/src/config.c b/src/config.c
index 6d946ee0cbe237e0b485d5fcdd97377f48908ddd..b11bbd0f557494b051c57bc1ad6d0ae9f48c31be 100644
--- a/src/config.c
+++ b/src/config.c
@@ -66,11 +66,15 @@ void loadServerConfig(char *filename) {
             }
         } else if (!strcasecmp(argv[0],"port") && argc == 2) {
             server.port = atoi(argv[1]);
-            if (server.port < 1 || server.port > 65535) {
+            if (server.port != -1 &&
+                (server.port < 1 || server.port > 65535))
+            {
                 err = "Invalid port"; goto loaderr;
             }
         } else if (!strcasecmp(argv[0],"bind") && argc == 2) {
             server.bindaddr = zstrdup(argv[1]);
+        } else if (!strcasecmp(argv[0],"socket") && argc == 2) {
+            server.sockpath = zstrdup(argv[1]);
         } else if (!strcasecmp(argv[0],"save") && argc == 3) {
             int seconds = atoi(argv[1]);
             int changes = atoi(argv[2]);
diff --git a/src/rdb.c b/src/rdb.c
index 509c70c307f378d417dedc4032ba4c59e9edcb7e..3fa284e127be9cd78a1a6bc9c5a7dfaa492189df 100644
--- a/src/rdb.c
+++ b/src/rdb.c
@@ -448,7 +448,8 @@ int rdbSaveBackground(char *filename) {
     if ((childpid = fork()) == 0) {
         /* Child */
         if (server.vm_enabled) vmReopenSwapFile();
-        close(server.fd);
+        if (server.ipfd > 0) close(server.ipfd);
+        if (server.sofd > 0) close(server.sofd);
         if (rdbSave(filename) == REDIS_OK) {
             _exit(0);
         } else {
diff --git a/src/redis.c b/src/redis.c
index 397dd65a98db11f2f1bd94717c27ad98ec150cb1..65675cdf3f85db17e1f6c74850d338fa99e65741 100644
--- a/src/redis.c
+++ b/src/redis.c
@@ -696,13 +696,16 @@ void createSharedObjects(void) {
 }
 
 void initServerConfig() {
-    server.dbnum = REDIS_DEFAULT_DBNUM;
     server.port = REDIS_SERVERPORT;
+    server.bindaddr = NULL;
+    server.sockpath = NULL;
+    server.ipfd = -1;
+    server.sofd = -1;
+    server.dbnum = REDIS_DEFAULT_DBNUM;
     server.verbosity = REDIS_VERBOSE;
     server.maxidletime = REDIS_MAXIDLETIME;
     server.saveparams = NULL;
     server.logfile = NULL; /* NULL = log on standard output */
-    server.bindaddr = NULL;
     server.glueoutputbuf = 1;
     server.daemonize = 0;
     server.appendonly = 0;
@@ -773,16 +776,23 @@ void initServer() {
     createSharedObjects();
     server.el = aeCreateEventLoop();
     server.db = zmalloc(sizeof(redisDb)*server.dbnum);
-    if (server.bindaddr == NULL || inet_aton(server.bindaddr,NULL)) {
-        /* Either no address given, or it can be correctly parsed. */
-        server.fd = anetTcpServer(server.neterr, server.port, server.bindaddr);
-    } else {
-        /* Bind to a socket */
-        unlink(server.bindaddr); /* don't care if this fails */
-        server.fd = anetUnixServer(server.neterr,server.bindaddr);
+    if (server.port > 0) {
+        server.ipfd = anetTcpServer(server.neterr,server.port,server.bindaddr);
+        if (server.ipfd == ANET_ERR) {
+            redisLog(REDIS_WARNING, "Opening port: %s", server.neterr);
+            exit(1);
+        }
+    }
+    if (server.sockpath != NULL) {
+        unlink(server.sockpath); /* don't care if this fails */
+        server.sofd = anetUnixServer(server.neterr,server.sockpath);
+        if (server.sofd == ANET_ERR) {
+            redisLog(REDIS_WARNING, "Opening socket: %s", server.neterr);
+            exit(1);
+        }
     }
-    if (server.fd == -1) {
-        redisLog(REDIS_WARNING, "Opening port/socket: %s", server.neterr);
+    if (server.ipfd < 0 && server.sofd < 0) {
+        redisLog(REDIS_WARNING, "Configured to not listen anywhere, exiting.");
         exit(1);
     }
     for (j = 0; j < server.dbnum; j++) {
@@ -811,8 +821,10 @@ void initServer() {
     server.stat_starttime = time(NULL);
     server.unixtime = time(NULL);
     aeCreateTimeEvent(server.el, 1, serverCron, NULL, NULL);
-    if (aeCreateFileEvent(server.el, server.fd, AE_READABLE,
-        acceptHandler, NULL) == AE_ERR) oom("creating file event");
+    if (server.ipfd > 0 && aeCreateFileEvent(server.el,server.ipfd,AE_READABLE,
+        acceptHandler,NULL) == AE_ERR) oom("creating file event");
+    if (server.sofd > 0 && aeCreateFileEvent(server.el,server.sofd,AE_READABLE,
+        acceptHandler,NULL) == AE_ERR) oom("creating file event");
 
     if (server.appendonly) {
         server.appendfd = open(server.appendfilename,O_WRONLY|O_APPEND|O_CREAT,0644);
@@ -1423,7 +1435,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         if (rdbLoad(server.dbfilename) == REDIS_OK)
             redisLog(REDIS_NOTICE,"DB loaded from disk: %ld seconds",time(NULL)-start);
     }
-    redisLog(REDIS_NOTICE,"The server is now ready to accept connections on port %d", server.port);
+    if (server.ipfd > 0)
+        redisLog(REDIS_NOTICE,"The server is now ready to accept connections on port %d", server.port);
+    if (server.sofd > 0)
+        redisLog(REDIS_NOTICE,"The server is now ready to accept connections at %s", server.sockpath);
     aeSetBeforeSleepProc(server.el,beforeSleep);
     aeMain(server.el);
     aeDeleteEventLoop(server.el);
diff --git a/src/redis.h b/src/redis.h
index fb051f8ebc6d07bdd58e5d5831ad0ede9703c83a..079a67ba7704f597190c4c85534ab014248b8c9b 100644
--- a/src/redis.h
+++ b/src/redis.h
@@ -329,7 +329,10 @@ struct sharedObjectsStruct {
 struct redisServer {
     pthread_t mainthread;
     int port;
-    int fd;
+    char *bindaddr;
+    char *sockpath;
+    int ipfd;
+    int sofd;
     redisDb *db;
     long long dirty;            /* changes to DB from the last save */
     list *clients;
@@ -365,7 +368,6 @@ struct redisServer {
     struct saveparam *saveparams;
     int saveparamslen;
     char *logfile;
-    char *bindaddr;
     char *dbfilename;
     char *appendfilename;
     char *requirepass;