diff --git a/src/yggdrasil/admin.go b/src/yggdrasil/admin.go
index f486468e..a8ac5019 100644
--- a/src/yggdrasil/admin.go
+++ b/src/yggdrasil/admin.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 type admin struct {
 	core       *Core
 	listenaddr string
+	listener   net.Listener
 	handlers   []admin_handlerInfo
 }
 
@@ -229,17 +230,36 @@ func (a *admin) start() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// cleans up when stopping
+func (a *admin) close() error {
+	return a.listener.Close()
+}
+
 // listen is run by start and manages API connections.
 func (a *admin) listen() {
-	l, err := net.Listen("tcp", a.listenaddr)
+	u, err := url.Parse(a.listenaddr)
+	if err == nil {
+		switch strings.ToLower(u.Scheme) {
+		case "unix":
+			a.listener, err = net.Listen("unix", a.listenaddr[7:])
+		case "tcp":
+			a.listener, err = net.Listen("tcp", u.Host)
+		default:
+			err = errors.New("protocol not supported")
+		}
+	} else {
+		a.listener, err = net.Listen("tcp", a.listenaddr)
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		a.core.log.Printf("Admin socket failed to listen: %v", err)
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
-	defer l.Close()
-	a.core.log.Printf("Admin socket listening on %s", l.Addr().String())
+	a.core.log.Printf("%s admin socket listening on %s",
+		strings.ToUpper(a.listener.Addr().Network()),
+		a.listener.Addr().String())
+	defer a.listener.Close()
 	for {
-		conn, err := l.Accept()
+		conn, err := a.listener.Accept()
 		if err == nil {
 			a.handleRequest(conn)
 		}
diff --git a/src/yggdrasil/core.go b/src/yggdrasil/core.go
index 28ca8f30..a0d5a118 100644
--- a/src/yggdrasil/core.go
+++ b/src/yggdrasil/core.go
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ func (c *Core) Start(nc *config.NodeConfig, log *log.Logger) error {
 func (c *Core) Stop() {
 	c.log.Println("Stopping...")
 	c.tun.close()
+	c.admin.close()
 }
 
 // Generates a new encryption keypair. The encryption keys are used to
diff --git a/yggdrasilctl.go b/yggdrasilctl.go
index c4efe773..6281b162 100644
--- a/yggdrasilctl.go
+++ b/yggdrasilctl.go
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 package main
 
+import "errors"
 import "flag"
 import "fmt"
 import "strings"
 import "net"
+import "net/url"
 import "sort"
 import "encoding/json"
 import "strconv"
@@ -20,14 +22,28 @@ func main() {
 	args := flag.Args()
 
 	if len(args) == 0 {
-		fmt.Println("usage:", os.Args[0], "[-endpoint=localhost:9001] [-json] command [key=value] [...]")
+		fmt.Println("usage:", os.Args[0], "[-endpoint=proto://server] [-json] command [key=value] [...]")
 		fmt.Println("example:", os.Args[0], "getPeers")
 		fmt.Println("example:", os.Args[0], "setTunTap name=auto mtu=1500 tap_mode=false")
-		fmt.Println("example:", os.Args[0], "-endpoint=localhost:9001 getDHT")
+		fmt.Println("example:", os.Args[0], "-endpoint=tcp://localhost:9001 getDHT")
+		fmt.Println("example:", os.Args[0], "-endpoint=unix:///var/run/ygg.sock getDHT")
 		return
 	}
 
-	conn, err := net.Dial("tcp", *server)
+	var conn net.Conn
+	u, err := url.Parse(*server)
+	if err == nil {
+		switch strings.ToLower(u.Scheme) {
+		case "unix":
+			conn, err = net.Dial("unix", (*server)[7:])
+		case "tcp":
+			conn, err = net.Dial("tcp", u.Host)
+		default:
+			err = errors.New("protocol not supported")
+		}
+	} else {
+		conn, err = net.Dial("tcp", *server)
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}