diff --git a/src/redis.c b/src/redis.c
index 0bcb3fe4..568f2fc8 100644
--- a/src/redis.c
+++ b/src/redis.c
@@ -1236,6 +1236,10 @@ int prepareForShutdown() {
     /* Close the listening sockets. Apparently this allows faster restarts. */
     if (server.ipfd != -1) close(server.ipfd);
     if (server.sofd != -1) close(server.sofd);
+    if (server.unixsocket) {
+        redisLog(REDIS_NOTICE,"Removing the unix socket file.");
+        unlink(server.unixsocket); /* don't care if this fails */
+    }
 
     redisLog(REDIS_WARNING,"Redis is now ready to exit, bye bye...");
     return REDIS_OK;