diff --git a/docker/client.py b/docker/client.py
index 1aa9ed6d..d6c96a2c 100644
--- a/docker/client.py
+++ b/docker/client.py
@@ -42,31 +42,35 @@ class Client(requests.Session):
     def __init__(self, base_url=None, version=DEFAULT_DOCKER_API_VERSION,
                  timeout=DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS, tls=False):
         super(Client, self).__init__()
-        base_url = utils.parse_host(base_url)
-        if 'http+unix:///' in base_url:
-            base_url = base_url.replace('unix:/', 'unix:')
+
         if tls and not base_url.startswith('https://'):
             raise errors.TLSParameterError(
                 'If using TLS, the base_url argument must begin with '
                 '"https://".')
+
         if not isinstance(version, six.string_types):
             raise errors.DockerException(
                 'version parameter must be a string. Found {0}'.format(
                     type(version).__name__
                 )
             )
-        self.base_url = base_url
+
         self._version = version
         self._timeout = timeout
         self._auth_configs = auth.load_config()
 
-        # Use SSLAdapter for the ability to specify SSL version
-        if isinstance(tls, TLSConfig):
-            tls.configure_client(self)
-        elif tls:
-            self.mount('https://', ssladapter.SSLAdapter())
+        base_url = utils.parse_host(base_url)
+        if base_url.startswith('http+unix://'):
+            unix_socket_adapter = unixconn.UnixAdapter(base_url, timeout)
+            self.mount('http+docker://', unix_socket_adapter)
+            self.base_url = 'http+docker://localunixsocket'
         else:
-            self.mount('http+unix://', unixconn.UnixAdapter(base_url, timeout))
+            # Use SSLAdapter for the ability to specify SSL version
+            if isinstance(tls, TLSConfig):
+                tls.configure_client(self)
+            elif tls:
+                self.mount('https://', ssladapter.SSLAdapter())
+            self.base_url = base_url
 
     def _set_request_timeout(self, kwargs):
         """Prepare the kwargs for an HTTP request by inserting the timeout
diff --git a/docker/unixconn/unixconn.py b/docker/unixconn/unixconn.py
index 295d426c..5b136b76 100644
--- a/docker/unixconn/unixconn.py
+++ b/docker/unixconn/unixconn.py
@@ -41,17 +41,9 @@ class UnixHTTPConnection(httplib.HTTPConnection, object):
     def connect(self):
         sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
         sock.settimeout(self.timeout)
-        sock.connect(self.base_url.replace("http+unix:/", ""))
+        sock.connect(self.unix_socket)
         self.sock = sock
 
-    def _extract_path(self, url):
-        # remove the base_url entirely..
-        return url.replace(self.base_url, "")
-
-    def request(self, method, url, **kwargs):
-        url = self._extract_path(self.unix_socket)
-        super(UnixHTTPConnection, self).request(method, url, **kwargs)
-
 
 class UnixHTTPConnectionPool(connectionpool.HTTPConnectionPool):
     def __init__(self, base_url, socket_path, timeout=60):
@@ -67,23 +59,26 @@ class UnixHTTPConnectionPool(connectionpool.HTTPConnectionPool):
 
 
 class UnixAdapter(requests.adapters.HTTPAdapter):
-    def __init__(self, base_url, timeout=60):
-        self.base_url = base_url
+    def __init__(self, socket_url, timeout=60):
+        socket_path = socket_url.replace('http+unix://', '')
+        if not socket_path.startswith('/'):
+            socket_path = '/' + socket_path
+        self.socket_path = socket_path
         self.timeout = timeout
         self.pools = RecentlyUsedContainer(10,
                                            dispose_func=lambda p: p.close())
         super(UnixAdapter, self).__init__()
 
-    def get_connection(self, socket_path, proxies=None):
+    def get_connection(self, url, proxies=None):
         with self.pools.lock:
-            pool = self.pools.get(socket_path)
+            pool = self.pools.get(url)
             if pool:
                 return pool
 
-            pool = UnixHTTPConnectionPool(self.base_url,
-                                          socket_path,
+            pool = UnixHTTPConnectionPool(url,
+                                          self.socket_path,
                                           self.timeout)
-            self.pools[socket_path] = pool
+            self.pools[url] = pool
 
         return pool
 
diff --git a/tests/fake_api.py b/tests/fake_api.py
index a006f512..9807fe5f 100644
--- a/tests/fake_api.py
+++ b/tests/fake_api.py
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ def post_fake_tag_image():
 
 
 # Maps real api url to fake response callback
-prefix = 'http+unix://var/run/docker.sock'
+prefix = 'http+docker://localunixsocket'
 fake_responses = {
     '{1}/{0}/version'.format(CURRENT_VERSION, prefix):
     get_fake_version,
diff --git a/tests/test.py b/tests/test.py
index bd56d646..4a17a8ab 100644
--- a/tests/test.py
+++ b/tests/test.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ def fake_resp(url, data=None, **kwargs):
 
 
 fake_request = mock.Mock(side_effect=fake_resp)
-url_prefix = 'http+unix://var/run/docker.sock/v{0}/'.format(
+url_prefix = 'http+docker://localunixsocket/v{0}/'.format(
     docker.client.DEFAULT_DOCKER_API_VERSION)
 
 
@@ -1267,20 +1267,24 @@ class DockerClientTest(Cleanup, unittest.TestCase):
             timeout=None
         )
 
+    def _socket_path_for_client_session(self, client):
+        socket_adapter = client.get_adapter('http+docker://')
+        return socket_adapter.socket_path
+
     def test_url_compatibility_unix(self):
         c = docker.Client(base_url="unix://socket")
 
-        assert c.base_url == "http+unix://socket"
+        assert self._socket_path_for_client_session(c) == '/socket'
 
     def test_url_compatibility_unix_triple_slash(self):
         c = docker.Client(base_url="unix:///socket")
 
-        assert c.base_url == "http+unix://socket"
+        assert self._socket_path_for_client_session(c) == '/socket'
 
     def test_url_compatibility_http_unix_triple_slash(self):
         c = docker.Client(base_url="http+unix:///socket")
 
-        assert c.base_url == "http+unix://socket"
+        assert self._socket_path_for_client_session(c) == '/socket'
 
     def test_url_compatibility_http(self):
         c = docker.Client(base_url="http://hostname:1234")