diff --git a/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mariadb_client.cc b/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mariadb_client.cc
index 39e61299e..ff95265e4 100644
--- a/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mariadb_client.cc
+++ b/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mariadb_client.cc
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <maxscale/protocol/mariadb_client.hh>
 #include <maxscale/routingworker.hh>
 #include <maxscale/utils.h>
+#include <maxbase/host.hh>
 
 #ifdef EPOLLRDHUP
 #define ERROR_EVENTS (EPOLLRDHUP | EPOLLHUP | EPOLLERR)
@@ -231,13 +232,61 @@ uint32_t LocalClient::poll_handler(MXB_POLL_DATA* data, MXB_WORKER* worker, uint
     return 0;
 }
 
+namespace
+{
+using namespace maxbase;
+
+int connect_socket(const Host& host)
+{
+    int fd = -1;
+    struct sockaddr* sock_addr = nullptr;
+    socklen_t sock_len = 0;
+
+    switch (host.type())
+    {
+    case Host::Type::Invalid:
+        break;
+
+    case Host::Type::UnixDomainSocket:
+        {
+            struct sockaddr_un addr;
+            sock_addr = reinterpret_cast<struct sockaddr*>(&addr);
+            sock_len = sizeof(addr);
+            fd = open_unix_socket(MXS_SOCKET_NETWORK, &addr, host.address().c_str());
+        }
+        break;
+
+    default:
+        {
+            struct sockaddr_storage addr;
+            sock_addr = reinterpret_cast<struct sockaddr*>(&addr);
+            sock_len = sizeof(addr);
+            fd = open_network_socket(MXS_SOCKET_NETWORK, &addr, host.address().c_str(), host.port());
+        }
+        break;
+    }
+
+    if (fd >= 0 && sock_addr && sock_len)
+    {
+        bool ok = connect(fd, sock_addr, sock_len) == 0 || errno == EINPROGRESS;
+        if (!ok)
+        {
+            ::close(fd);
+            fd = -1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return fd;
+}
+}
+
 LocalClient* LocalClient::create(MYSQL_session* session, MySQLProtocol* proto, const char* ip, uint64_t port)
 {
     LocalClient* rval = NULL;
-    sockaddr_storage addr;
-    int fd = open_network_socket(MXS_SOCKET_NETWORK, &addr, ip, port);
 
-    if (fd > 0 && (connect(fd, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, sizeof(addr)) == 0 || errno == EINPROGRESS))
+    int fd = connect_socket(maxbase::Host(ip, port));
+
+    if (fd >= 0)
     {
         LocalClient* relay = new(std::nothrow) LocalClient(session, proto, fd);
 
@@ -258,7 +307,7 @@ LocalClient* LocalClient::create(MYSQL_session* session, MySQLProtocol* proto, c
         }
     }
 
-    if (rval == NULL && fd > 0)
+    if (rval == NULL && fd >= 0)
     {
         ::close(fd);
     }