diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 46d9647..f6c4c07 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -127,6 +127,12 @@ protocol://username:password@host:port/database_name?options
 DATABASE_URL="mysql://username:password@127.0.0.1:3306/database_name"
 ```
 
+A socket parameter can be specified to connect through a unix socket file:
+
+```sh
+DATABASE_URL="mysql://username:password@/database_name?socket=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock"
+```
+
 **PostgreSQL**
 
 When connecting to Postgres, you may need to add the `sslmode=disable` option to your connection string, as dbmate by default requires a TLS connection (some other frameworks/languages allow unencrypted connections by default).
diff --git a/pkg/dbmate/mysql.go b/pkg/dbmate/mysql.go
index 55c405a..636b63a 100644
--- a/pkg/dbmate/mysql.go
+++ b/pkg/dbmate/mysql.go
@@ -19,20 +19,20 @@ type MySQLDriver struct {
 }
 
 func normalizeMySQLURL(u *url.URL) string {
-	// set default port
-	host := u.Host
-
-	if u.Port() == "" {
-		host = fmt.Sprintf("%s:3306", host)
-	}
-
-	// host format required by go-sql-driver/mysql
-	host = fmt.Sprintf("tcp(%s)", host)
-
 	query := u.Query()
 	query.Set("multiStatements", "true")
 
-	queryString := query.Encode()
+	host := u.Host
+	protocol := "tcp"
+
+	if query.Get("socket") != "" {
+		protocol = "unix"
+		host = query.Get("socket")
+		query.Del("socket")
+	} else if u.Port() == "" {
+		// set default port
+		host = fmt.Sprintf("%s:3306", host)
+	}
 
 	// Get decoded user:pass
 	userPassEncoded := u.User.String()
@@ -45,8 +45,9 @@ func normalizeMySQLURL(u *url.URL) string {
 		normalizedString = userPass + "@"
 	}
 
-	normalizedString = fmt.Sprintf("%s%s%s?%s", normalizedString,
-		host, u.Path, queryString)
+	// connection string format required by go-sql-driver/mysql
+	normalizedString = fmt.Sprintf("%s%s(%s)%s?%s", normalizedString,
+		protocol, host, u.Path, query.Encode())
 
 	return normalizedString
 }
diff --git a/pkg/dbmate/mysql_test.go b/pkg/dbmate/mysql_test.go
index 4aaf3e6..b1d6ebb 100644
--- a/pkg/dbmate/mysql_test.go
+++ b/pkg/dbmate/mysql_test.go
@@ -61,6 +61,15 @@ func TestNormalizeMySQLURLCustomSpecialChars(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, "duhfsd7s:123!@123!@@tcp(host:123)/foo?flag=on&multiStatements=true", s)
 }
 
+func TestNormalizeMySQLURLSocket(t *testing.T) {
+	u, err := url.Parse("mysql:///foo?socket=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock&flag=on")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, "", u.Host)
+
+	s := normalizeMySQLURL(u)
+	require.Equal(t, "unix(/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock)/foo?flag=on&multiStatements=true", s)
+}
+
 func TestMySQLCreateDropDatabase(t *testing.T) {
 	drv := MySQLDriver{}
 	u := mySQLTestURL(t)