diff --git a/gdb/NEWS b/gdb/NEWS
index 78d20713a8..95c5083d9b 100644
--- a/gdb/NEWS
+++ b/gdb/NEWS
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@
   can be passed using the '[ADDRESS]:PORT' notation, or the regular
   'ADDRESS:PORT' method.
 
+* GDB and GDBserver now support local domain socket connections.  The
+  name of a local domain socket may be provided instead of the
+  [ADDRESS]:PORT notation.
+
 * DWARF index cache: GDB can now automatically save indices of DWARF
   symbols on disk to speed up further loading of the same binaries.
 
diff --git a/gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo b/gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo
index efd6dffb1e..44b319ebc7 100644
--- a/gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo
+++ b/gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo
@@ -21075,9 +21075,13 @@ syntax is:
 target> gdbserver @var{comm} @var{program} [ @var{args} @dots{} ]
 @end smallexample
 
-@var{comm} is either a device name (to use a serial line), or a TCP
+@var{comm} is either an existing device name (to use a serial line), or a TCP
 hostname and portnumber, or @code{-} or @code{stdio} to use
 stdin/stdout of @code{gdbserver}.
+If @var{comm} is none of the above, then a local domain socket
+will be created with that name.
+@cindex local socket
+@cindex Unix domain socket
 For example, to debug Emacs with the argument
 @samp{foo.txt} and communicate with @value{GDBN} over the serial port
 @file{/dev/com1}:
@@ -21107,6 +21111,20 @@ conflicts with another service, @code{gdbserver} prints an error message
 and exits.}  You must use the same port number with the host @value{GDBN}
 @code{target remote} command.
 
+If the target and local machine are one and the same, then you can
+use local domain socket instead of a TCP connection:
+
+@smallexample
+target> gdbserver /tmp/local-socket emacs foo.txt
+@end smallexample
+
+A local domain socket called @file{/tmp/local-socket} will be created
+in the filesystem.
+If there is already a local domain socket with this name it will be removed.
+@smallexample
+(gdb) target remote /tmp/local-socket
+@end smallexample
+
 The @code{stdio} connection is useful when starting @code{gdbserver}
 with ssh:
 
@@ -21155,10 +21173,10 @@ In case more than one copy of @var{program} is running, or @var{program}
 has multiple threads, most versions of @code{pidof} support the
 @code{-s} option to only return the first process ID.
 
-@subsubsection TCP port allocation lifecycle of @code{gdbserver}
+@subsubsection Socket lifecycle of @code{gdbserver}
 
 This section applies only when @code{gdbserver} is run to listen on a TCP
-port.
+port or a unix domain socket.
 
 @code{gdbserver} normally terminates after all of its debugged processes have
 terminated in @kbd{target remote} mode.  On the other hand, for @kbd{target
@@ -21174,7 +21192,7 @@ Such reconnecting is useful for features like @ref{disconnected tracing}.  For
 completeness, at most one @value{GDBN} can be connected at a time.
 
 @cindex @option{--once}, @code{gdbserver} option
-By default, @code{gdbserver} keeps the listening TCP port open, so that
+By default, @code{gdbserver} keeps the listening socket open, so that
 subsequent connections are possible.  However, if you start @code{gdbserver}
 with the @option{--once} option, it will stop listening for any further
 connection attempts after connecting to the first @value{GDBN} session.  This
diff --git a/gdb/gdbserver/configure.ac b/gdb/gdbserver/configure.ac
index fa3ca53efd..de7e7d4103 100644
--- a/gdb/gdbserver/configure.ac
+++ b/gdb/gdbserver/configure.ac
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ ACX_CONFIGURE_DIR(["../../libiberty"], ["build-libiberty-gdbserver"])
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS(termios.h sys/reg.h string.h dnl
 		 proc_service.h sys/procfs.h linux/elf.h dnl
 		 fcntl.h signal.h sys/file.h dnl
-		 sys/ioctl.h netinet/in.h sys/socket.h netdb.h dnl
+		 sys/ioctl.h netinet/in.h sys/socket.h sys/un.h netdb.h dnl
 		 netinet/tcp.h arpa/inet.h)
 AC_FUNC_FORK
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(getauxval pread pwrite pread64 setns)
diff --git a/gdb/gdbserver/remote-utils.c b/gdb/gdbserver/remote-utils.c
index 9199a9c7ad..00e3340156 100644
--- a/gdb/gdbserver/remote-utils.c
+++ b/gdb/gdbserver/remote-utils.c
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@
 #if HAVE_NETINET_IN_H
 #include <netinet/in.h>
 #endif
+#if HAVE_SYS_UN_H
+#include <sys/un.h>
+#endif
 #if HAVE_SYS_SOCKET_H
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #endif
@@ -193,20 +196,35 @@ handle_accept_event (int err, gdb_client_data client_data)
      descriptor open for add_file_handler to wait for a new connection.  */
   delete_file_handler (listen_desc);
 
-  /* Convert IP address to string.  */
-  char orig_host[GDB_NI_MAX_ADDR], orig_port[GDB_NI_MAX_PORT];
-
-  int r = getnameinfo ((struct sockaddr *) &sockaddr, len,
-		       orig_host, sizeof (orig_host),
-		       orig_port, sizeof (orig_port),
-		       NI_NUMERICHOST | NI_NUMERICSERV);
+  if (sockaddr.ss_family == AF_UNIX)
+    {
+      struct sockaddr_un su;
+      socklen_t len;
+      if (0 != getsockname (listen_desc, (struct sockaddr *) &su, &len))
+	{
+	  perror (_("Could not obtain remote address"));
+	}
 
-  if (r != 0)
-    fprintf (stderr, _("Could not obtain remote address: %s\n"),
-	     gai_strerror (r));
+      fprintf (stderr, _("Remote debugging on local socket bound to %s\n"),
+	       su.sun_path);
+    }
   else
-    fprintf (stderr, _("Remote debugging from host %s, port %s\n"),
-	     orig_host, orig_port);
+    {
+      /* Convert IP address to string.  */
+      char orig_host[GDB_NI_MAX_ADDR], orig_port[GDB_NI_MAX_PORT];
+
+      int r = getnameinfo ((struct sockaddr *) &sockaddr, len,
+			   orig_host, sizeof (orig_host),
+			   orig_port, sizeof (orig_port),
+			   NI_NUMERICHOST | NI_NUMERICSERV);
+
+      if (r != 0)
+	fprintf (stderr, _("Could not obtain remote address: %s\n"),
+		 gai_strerror (r));
+      else
+	fprintf (stderr, _("Remote debugging from host %s, port %s\n"),
+		 orig_host, orig_port);
+    }
 
   enable_async_notification (remote_desc);
 
@@ -250,6 +268,9 @@ remote_prepare (const char *name)
   struct addrinfo hint;
   struct addrinfo *ainfo;
 
+  struct sockaddr *addr;
+  socklen_t addrlen;
+
   memset (&hint, 0, sizeof (hint));
   /* Assume no prefix will be passed, therefore we should use
      AF_UNSPEC.  */
@@ -260,10 +281,17 @@ remote_prepare (const char *name)
   parsed_connection_spec parsed
     = parse_connection_spec_without_prefix (name, &hint);
 
+  struct stat statbuf;
+  int stat_result = stat (name, &statbuf);
+
   if (parsed.port_str.empty ())
     {
-      cs.transport_is_reliable = 0;
-      return;
+      if (stat_result == 0
+	  && (S_ISCHR (statbuf.st_mode) || S_ISFIFO (statbuf.st_mode)))
+	{
+	  cs.transport_is_reliable = 0;
+	  return;
+	}
     }
 
 #ifdef USE_WIN32API
@@ -276,47 +304,82 @@ remote_prepare (const char *name)
     }
 #endif
 
-  int r = getaddrinfo (parsed.host_str.c_str (), parsed.port_str.c_str (),
-		       &hint, &ainfo);
+  struct sockaddr_un unix_addr;
 
-  if (r != 0)
-    error (_("%s: cannot resolve name: %s"), name, gai_strerror (r));
+#ifndef UNIX_PATH_MAX
+#define UNIX_PATH_MAX sizeof(((struct sockaddr_un *) NULL)->sun_path)
+#endif
 
-  scoped_free_addrinfo freeaddrinfo (ainfo);
+  if (parsed.port_str.empty ())
+    {
+      if (strlen (name) > UNIX_PATH_MAX - 1)
+	{
+	  error
+	    (_("%s is too long.  Socket names may be no longer than %s bytes."),
+	     name, pulongest (UNIX_PATH_MAX - 1));
+	  return;
+	}
+      listen_desc = socket (AF_UNIX,  SOCK_STREAM,  0);
+      if (listen_desc < 0)
+	perror_with_name ("Can't open socket");
+
+      memset (&unix_addr, 0, sizeof (unix_addr));
+      unix_addr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
+      strncpy (unix_addr.sun_path, parsed.host_str.c_str(), UNIX_PATH_MAX - 1);
+      if (stat_result == 0
+	  && (S_IFSOCK & statbuf.st_mode))
+	unlink (name);
+
+      addr = (struct sockaddr *) &unix_addr;
+      addrlen = sizeof (unix_addr);
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      struct addrinfo *iter;
 
-  struct addrinfo *iter;
+      int r = getaddrinfo (parsed.host_str.c_str (),
+			   parsed.port_str.c_str (),
+			   &hint, &ainfo);
 
-  for (iter = ainfo; iter != NULL; iter = iter->ai_next)
-    {
-      listen_desc = gdb_socket_cloexec (iter->ai_family, iter->ai_socktype,
-					iter->ai_protocol);
+      if (r != 0)
+	error (_("%s: cannot resolve name: %s"), name, gai_strerror (r));
 
-      if (listen_desc >= 0)
-	break;
-    }
+      scoped_free_addrinfo freeaddrinfo (ainfo);
 
-  if (iter == NULL)
-    perror_with_name ("Can't open socket");
+      for (iter = ainfo; iter != NULL; iter = iter->ai_next)
+	{
+	  listen_desc = gdb_socket_cloexec (iter->ai_family, iter->ai_socktype,
+					    iter->ai_protocol);
 
-  /* Allow rapid reuse of this port. */
-  tmp = 1;
-  setsockopt (listen_desc, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, (char *) &tmp,
-	      sizeof (tmp));
+	  if (listen_desc >= 0)
+	    break;
+	}
 
-  switch (iter->ai_family)
-    {
-    case AF_INET:
-      ((struct sockaddr_in *) iter->ai_addr)->sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY;
-      break;
-    case AF_INET6:
-      ((struct sockaddr_in6 *) iter->ai_addr)->sin6_addr = in6addr_any;
-      break;
-    default:
-      internal_error (__FILE__, __LINE__,
-		      _("Invalid 'ai_family' %d\n"), iter->ai_family);
+      if (iter == NULL)
+	perror_with_name ("Can't open socket");
+
+      /* Allow rapid reuse of this port. */
+      tmp = 1;
+      setsockopt (listen_desc, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, (char *) &tmp,
+		  sizeof (tmp));
+
+      switch (iter->ai_family)
+	{
+	case AF_INET:
+	  ((struct sockaddr_in *) iter->ai_addr)->sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY;
+	  break;
+	case AF_INET6:
+	  ((struct sockaddr_in6 *) iter->ai_addr)->sin6_addr = in6addr_any;
+	  break;
+	default:
+	  internal_error (__FILE__, __LINE__,
+			  _("Invalid 'ai_family' %d\n"), iter->ai_family);
+	}
+      addr = iter->ai_addr;
+      addrlen = iter->ai_addrlen;
     }
 
-  if (bind (listen_desc, iter->ai_addr, iter->ai_addrlen) != 0)
+  if (bind (listen_desc, addr, addrlen) != 0)
     perror_with_name ("Can't bind address");
 
   if (listen (listen_desc, 1) != 0)
@@ -334,6 +397,9 @@ remote_open (const char *name)
   const char *port_str;
 
   port_str = strchr (name, ':');
+  struct stat statbuf;
+  int stat_result = stat (name, &statbuf);
+
 #ifdef USE_WIN32API
   if (port_str == NULL)
     error ("Only HOST:PORT is supported on this platform.");
@@ -353,12 +419,10 @@ remote_open (const char *name)
       add_file_handler (remote_desc, handle_serial_event, NULL);
     }
 #ifndef USE_WIN32API
-  else if (port_str == NULL)
+  else if (port_str == NULL && stat_result == 0
+	   && 0 == (S_IFSOCK & statbuf.st_mode))
     {
-      struct stat statbuf;
-
-      if (stat (name, &statbuf) == 0
-	  && (S_ISCHR (statbuf.st_mode) || S_ISFIFO (statbuf.st_mode)))
+      if (S_ISCHR (statbuf.st_mode) || S_ISFIFO (statbuf.st_mode))
 	remote_desc = open (name, O_RDWR);
       else
 	{
