diff --git a/physical/consul/consul.go b/physical/consul/consul.go
index e050cf08ee..4db2b36287 100644
--- a/physical/consul/consul.go
+++ b/physical/consul/consul.go
@@ -237,9 +237,7 @@ func NewConsulBackend(conf map[string]string, logger log.Logger) (physical.Backe
 					logger.Debug("config address parsed", "scheme", parts[0])
 					logger.Debug("config scheme parsed", "address", parts[1])
 				}
-			} else {
-				return nil, errors.New("address should be host[:port], not URL")
-			}
+			} // allow "unix:" or whatever else consul supports in the future
 		}
 	}
 	if scheme, ok := conf["scheme"]; ok {
diff --git a/physical/consul/consul_test.go b/physical/consul/consul_test.go
index fa45f972f1..b474fb9ae5 100644
--- a/physical/consul/consul_test.go
+++ b/physical/consul/consul_test.go
@@ -231,6 +231,24 @@ func TestConsul_newConsulBackend(t *testing.T) {
 			max_parallel:    4,
 			consistencyMode: "strong",
 		},
+		{
+			name: "Unix socket",
+			consulConfig: map[string]string{
+				"address": "unix:///tmp/.consul.http.sock",
+			},
+			address: "/tmp/.consul.http.sock",
+			scheme:  "http", // Default, not overridden?
+
+			// Defaults
+			checkTimeout:    5 * time.Second,
+			redirectAddr:    "http://127.0.0.1:8200",
+			path:            "vault/",
+			service:         "vault",
+			token:           "",
+			max_parallel:    4,
+			disableReg:      false,
+			consistencyMode: "default",
+		},
 		{
 			name: "Scheme in address",
 			consulConfig: map[string]string{