diff --git a/datasette/cli.py b/datasette/cli.py
index 12ee92c3..09aebcc8 100644
--- a/datasette/cli.py
+++ b/datasette/cli.py
@@ -333,6 +333,10 @@ def uninstall(packages, yes):
     type=click.IntRange(0, 65535),
     help="Port for server, defaults to 8001. Use -p 0 to automatically assign an available port.",
 )
+@click.option(
+    "--uds",
+    help="Bind to a Unix domain socket",
+)
 @click.option(
     "--reload",
     is_flag=True,
@@ -428,6 +432,7 @@ def serve(
     immutable,
     host,
     port,
+    uds,
     reload,
     cors,
     sqlite_extensions,
@@ -569,6 +574,8 @@ def serve(
     uvicorn_kwargs = dict(
         host=host, port=port, log_level="info", lifespan="on", workers=1
     )
+    if uds:
+        uvicorn_kwargs["uds"] = uds
     if ssl_keyfile:
         uvicorn_kwargs["ssl_keyfile"] = ssl_keyfile
     if ssl_certfile:
diff --git a/docs/datasette-serve-help.txt b/docs/datasette-serve-help.txt
index db51dd80..ec3f41a0 100644
--- a/docs/datasette-serve-help.txt
+++ b/docs/datasette-serve-help.txt
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Options:
                             machines.
   -p, --port INTEGER RANGE  Port for server, defaults to 8001. Use -p 0 to automatically
                             assign an available port.  [0<=x<=65535]
+  --uds TEXT                Bind to a Unix domain socket
   --reload                  Automatically reload if code or metadata change detected -
                             useful for development
   --cors                    Enable CORS by serving Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
diff --git a/docs/deploying.rst b/docs/deploying.rst
index 44ddd07b..f3680034 100644
--- a/docs/deploying.rst
+++ b/docs/deploying.rst
@@ -148,7 +148,6 @@ Here is an example of an `nginx <https://nginx.org/>`__ configuration file that
     http {
       server {
         listen 80;
-
         location /my-datasette {
           proxy_pass              http://127.0.0.1:8009/my-datasette;
           proxy_set_header        X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
@@ -157,6 +156,28 @@ Here is an example of an `nginx <https://nginx.org/>`__ configuration file that
       }
     }
 
+You can also use the ``--uds`` option to Datasette to listen on a Unix domain socket instead of a port, configuring the nginx upstream proxy like this::
+
+    daemon off;
+    events {
+      worker_connections  1024;
+    }
+    http {
+      server {
+        listen 80;
+        location / {
+          proxy_pass              http://datasette;
+          proxy_set_header        X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+          proxy_set_header        X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+        }
+      }
+      upstream datasette {
+        server unix:/tmp/datasette.sock;
+      }
+    }
+
+Then run Datasette with ``datasette --uds /tmp/datasette.sock path/to/database.db``.
+
 Apache proxy configuration
 --------------------------
 
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index c6a3eee6..34a64efc 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -131,7 +131,6 @@ def ds_localhost_https_server(tmp_path_factory):
     for blob in server_cert.cert_chain_pems:
         blob.write_to_path(path=certfile, append=True)
     ca.cert_pem.write_to_path(path=client_cert)
-
     ds_proc = subprocess.Popen(
         [
             "datasette",
@@ -154,3 +153,22 @@ def ds_localhost_https_server(tmp_path_factory):
     yield ds_proc, client_cert
     # Shut it down at the end of the pytest session
     ds_proc.terminate()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def ds_unix_domain_socket_server(tmp_path_factory):
+    socket_folder = tmp_path_factory.mktemp("uds")
+    uds = str(socket_folder / "datasette.sock")
+    ds_proc = subprocess.Popen(
+        ["datasette", "--memory", "--uds", uds],
+        stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+        stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
+        cwd=tempfile.gettempdir(),
+    )
+    # Give the server time to start
+    time.sleep(1.5)
+    # Check it started successfully
+    assert not ds_proc.poll(), ds_proc.stdout.read().decode("utf-8")
+    yield ds_proc, uds
+    # Shut it down at the end of the pytest session
+    ds_proc.terminate()
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index e094ccb6..e31a305e 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ def test_metadata_yaml():
         immutable=[],
         host="127.0.0.1",
         port=8001,
+        uds=None,
         reload=False,
         cors=False,
         sqlite_extensions=[],
diff --git a/tests/test_cli_serve_server.py b/tests/test_cli_serve_server.py
index 6f5366d1..73439125 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli_serve_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli_serve_server.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import httpx
 import pytest
+import socket
 
 
 @pytest.mark.serial
@@ -21,3 +22,17 @@ def test_serve_localhost_https(ds_localhost_https_server):
         "path": "/_memory",
         "tables": [],
     }.items() <= response.json().items()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.serial
+@pytest.mark.skipif(not hasattr(socket, "AF_UNIX"), reason="Requires socket.AF_UNIX support")
+def test_serve_unix_domain_socket(ds_unix_domain_socket_server):
+    _, uds = ds_unix_domain_socket_server
+    transport = httpx.HTTPTransport(uds=uds)
+    client = httpx.Client(transport=transport)
+    response = client.get("http://localhost/_memory.json")
+    assert {
+        "database": "_memory",
+        "path": "/_memory",
+        "tables": [],
+    }.items() <= response.json().items()