diff --git a/jupyter_rsession_proxy/__init__.py b/jupyter_rsession_proxy/__init__.py
index 37f7033..3b3d062 100644
--- a/jupyter_rsession_proxy/__init__.py
+++ b/jupyter_rsession_proxy/__init__.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ def get_system_user():
     return(user)
 
 def setup_rserver():
-    def _get_env(port):
+    def _get_env(port, unix_socket):
         return dict(USER=get_system_user())
 
     def db_config(db_dir):
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ def _get_www_frame_origin(default="same"):
         except Exception:
             return default
 
-    def _get_cmd(port):
+    def _get_cmd(port, unix_socket):
         ntf = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile()
 
         # use mkdtemp() so the directory and its contents don't vanish when
@@ -95,7 +95,6 @@ def _get_cmd(port):
             get_rstudio_executable('rserver'),
             '--auth-none=1',
             '--www-frame-origin=' + _get_www_frame_origin(),
-            '--www-port=' + str(port),
             '--www-verify-user-agent=0',
             '--secure-cookie-key-file=' + ntf.name,
             '--server-user=' + get_system_user(),
@@ -109,6 +108,14 @@ def _get_cmd(port):
         if _support_arg('database-config-file'):
             cmd.append(f'--database-config-file={database_config_file}')
 
+        if unix_socket != "":
+            if _support_arg('www-socket'):
+                cmd.append('--www-socket={unix_socket}')
+            else:
+                raise NotImplementedError(f'rstudio-server does not support requested socket connection')
+        else:
+            cmd.append('--www-port={port}')
+
         return cmd
 
     def _get_timeout(default=15):
@@ -127,6 +134,16 @@ def _get_timeout(default=15):
             'icon_path': get_icon_path()
         }
     }
+
+    use_socket = os.getenv('JUPYTER_RSESSION_PROXY_USE_SOCKET')
+    if use_socket is not None:
+        # If this env var is anything other than case insensitive 'no' or 'false',
+        # use unix sockets instead of tcp sockets. This allows us to default to
+        # using unix sockets by default in the future once this feature is better
+        # tested, and allow people to turn it off if needed.
+        if use_socket.casefold() not in ('no', 'false'):
+            server_process['unix_socket'] = True
+
     return server_process
 
 def setup_rsession():