diff --git a/lib/client.js b/lib/client.js
index 3af94fe0..6efcb027 100644
--- a/lib/client.js
+++ b/lib/client.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ var Connection = require(__dirname + '/connection');
 var Client = function(config) {
   EventEmitter.call(this);
   if(typeof config === 'string') {
-    config = utils.parseConnectionString(config)
+    config = utils.normalizeConnectionInfo(config)
   }
   config = config || {};
   this.user = config.user || defaults.user;
@@ -31,7 +31,12 @@ var p = Client.prototype;
 p.connect = function() {
   var self = this;
   var con = this.connection;
-  con.connect(this.port, this.host);
+  if(this.host && this.host.indexOf('/') === 0) {
+    con.connect(this.host + '/.s.PGSQL.' + this.port);
+  } else {
+    con.connect(this.port, this.host);
+  }
+
 
   //once connection is established send startup message
   con.on('connect', function() {
diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 4fe24fe5..eed23da0 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 var EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter;
 var sys = require('sys');
 var net = require('net');
-var Pool = require(__dirname + '/utils').Pool;
 var Client = require(__dirname+'/client');
 var defaults =  require(__dirname + '/defaults');
+var Pool = require(__dirname + '/utils').Pool;
 
 //wrap up common connection management boilerplate
 var connect = function(config, callback) {
diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index 32726b8f..ecc84239 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 var url = require('url');
+var defaults = require(__dirname + "/defaults");
 var events = require('events');
 var sys = require('sys');
 
@@ -73,17 +74,49 @@ p._pulse = function(item, cb) {
     return true;
   }
   return false;
-}
+};
+
+var parseConnectionString = function(str) {
+  //unix socket
+  if(str.charAt(0) === '/') {
+    return { host: str };
+  }
+  var result = url.parse(str);
+  var config = {};
+  config.host = result.hostname;
+  config.database = result.pathname ? result.pathname.slice(1) : null
+  var auth = (result.auth || ':').split(':');
+  config.user = auth[0];
+  config.password = auth[1];
+  config.port = result.port;
+  return config;
+};
+
+//allows passing false as property to remove it from config
+var norm = function(config, propName) {
+  config[propName] = (config[propName] || (config[propName] === false ? undefined : defaults[propName]))
+};
+
+//normalizes connection info
+//which can be in the form of an object
+//or a connection string
+var normalizeConnectionInfo = function(config) {
+  switch(typeof config) {
+  case 'object':
+    norm(config, 'user');
+    norm(config, 'password');
+    norm(config, 'host');
+    norm(config, 'port');
+    norm(config, 'database');
+    return config;
+  case 'string':
+    return normalizeConnectionInfo(parseConnectionString(config));
+  default:
+    throw new Error("Unrecognized connection config parameter: " + config);
+  }
+};
 
 module.exports = {
   Pool: Pool,
-  parseConnectionString: function(str) {
-    var result = url.parse(str);
-    result.host = result.hostname;
-    result.database = result.pathname ? result.pathname.slice(1) : null
-    var auth = (result.auth || ':').split(':');
-    result.user = auth[0];
-    result.password = auth[1];
-    return result;
-  }
+  normalizeConnectionInfo: normalizeConnectionInfo
 }
diff --git a/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js b/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js
index 8521301d..cb60119b 100644
--- a/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js
@@ -50,3 +50,17 @@ test('initializing from a config string', function() {
 
 
 })
+
+test('calls connect correctly on connection', function() {
+  var client = new Client("/tmp");
+  var usedPort = "";
+  var usedHost = "";
+  client.connection.connect = function(port, host) {
+    usedPort = port;
+    usedHost = host;
+  };
+  client.connect();
+  assert.equal(usedPort, "/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432");
+  assert.strictEqual(usedHost, undefined)
+})
+
diff --git a/test/unit/utils-tests.js b/test/unit/utils-tests.js
index 1fa733c9..428ef406 100644
--- a/test/unit/utils-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/utils-tests.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 require(__dirname + '/test-helper');
-var Pool = require(__dirname + "/../../lib/utils").Pool;
+var utils = require(__dirname + "/../../lib/utils");
+var Pool = utils.Pool;
+var defaults = require(__dirname + "/../../lib").defaults;
 
 //this tests the monkey patching
 //to ensure comptability with older
@@ -109,8 +111,75 @@ test('when creating async new pool members', function() {
       }))
     }))
   })
-
 })
 
+test('normalizing connection info', function() {
+  test('with objects', function() {
+    test('empty object uses defaults', function() {
+      var input = {};
+      var output = utils.normalizeConnectionInfo(input);
+      assert.equal(output.user, defaults.user);
+      assert.equal(output.database, defaults.database);
+      assert.equal(output.port, defaults.port);
+      assert.equal(output.host, defaults.host);
+      assert.equal(output.password, defaults.password);
+    });
 
+    test('full object ignores defaults', function() {
+      var input = {
+        user: 'test1',
+        database: 'test2',
+        port: 'test3',
+        host: 'test4',
+        password: 'test5'
+      };
+      assert.equal(utils.normalizeConnectionInfo(input), input);
+    });
 
+    test('connection string', function() {
+      test('non-unix socket', function() {
+        test('uses defaults', function() {
+          var input = "";
+          var output = utils.normalizeConnectionInfo(input);
+          assert.equal(output.user, defaults.user);
+          assert.equal(output.database, defaults.database);
+          assert.equal(output.port, defaults.port);
+          assert.equal(output.host, defaults.host);
+          assert.equal(output.password, defaults.password);
+        });
+        test('ignores defaults if string contains them all', function() {
+          var input = "tcp://user1:pass2@host3:3333/databaseName";
+          var output = utils.normalizeConnectionInfo(input);
+          assert.equal(output.user, 'user1');
+          assert.equal(output.database, 'databaseName');
+          assert.equal(output.port, 3333);
+          assert.equal(output.host, 'host3');
+          assert.equal(output.password, 'pass2');
+        })
+      });
+
+      test('unix socket', function() {
+        test('uses defaults', function() {
+          var input = "/var/run/postgresql";
+          var output = utils.normalizeConnectionInfo(input);
+          assert.equal(output.user, process.env.USER);
+          assert.equal(output.host, '/var/run/postgresql');
+          assert.equal(output.database, process.env.USER);
+          assert.equal(output.port, 5432);
+        });
+        
+        test('uses overridden defaults', function() {
+          defaults.host = "/var/run/postgresql";
+          defaults.user = "boom";
+          defaults.password = "yeah";
+          defaults.port = 1234;
+          var output = utils.normalizeConnectionInfo("asdf");
+          assert.equal(output.user, "boom");
+          assert.equal(output.password, "yeah");
+          assert.equal(output.port, 1234);
+          assert.equal(output.host, "/var/run/postgresql");
+        })
+      })
+    })
+  })
+})