diff --git a/cli/cmd/serve.go b/cli/cmd/serve.go
index 59fc8441b..6ea6c0793 100644
--- a/cli/cmd/serve.go
+++ b/cli/cmd/serve.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package cmd
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"net"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -39,10 +38,12 @@ func ServeCommand() *cobra.Command {
 func runServe(ctx context.Context, opts serveOpts) error {
 	s := server.New()
 
-	listener, err := net.Listen("unix", opts.address)
+	listener, err := server.CreateListener(opts.address)
+
 	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrap(err, "listen unix socket")
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "listen address "+opts.address)
 	}
+
 	// nolint errcheck
 	defer listener.Close()
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 5b03523af..1bb974af6 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/Azure/go-autorest/autorest/date v0.2.0
 	github.com/Azure/go-autorest/autorest/to v0.3.0
 	github.com/Azure/go-autorest/autorest/validation v0.2.0 // indirect
-	github.com/Microsoft/go-winio v0.4.14 // indirect
+	github.com/Microsoft/go-winio v0.4.14
 	github.com/buger/goterm v0.0.0-20200322175922-2f3e71b85129
 	github.com/compose-spec/compose-go v0.0.0-20200423124427-63dcf8c22cae
 	github.com/containerd/console v1.0.0
diff --git a/server/server.go b/server/server.go
index c24bfc871..b24e2c206 100644
--- a/server/server.go
+++ b/server/server.go
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ package server
 import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
+	"net"
+	"strings"
 
 	grpc_prometheus "github.com/grpc-ecosystem/go-grpc-prometheus"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
@@ -57,6 +59,15 @@ func New() *grpc.Server {
 	return s
 }
 
+
+//CreateListener creates a listener either on tcp://, or local listener, supporting unix:// for unix socket or npipe:// for named pipes on windows
+func CreateListener(address string) (net.Listener, error) {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(address, "tcp://") {
+		return net.Listen("tcp", strings.TrimPrefix(address, "tcp://"))
+	}
+	return createLocalListener(address)
+}
+
 func unary(ctx context.Context, req interface{}, info *grpc.UnaryServerInfo, handler grpc.UnaryHandler) (resp interface{}, err error) {
 	return grpc_prometheus.UnaryServerInterceptor(ctx, req, info, handler)
 }
diff --git a/server/socket_unix.go b/server/socket_unix.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..49b095c50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/socket_unix.go
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// +build !windows
+
+package server
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"net"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+func createLocalListener(address string) (net.Listener, error) {
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(address, "unix://") {
+		return nil, errors.New("Cannot parse address, must start with unix:// or tcp:// : " + address)
+	}
+	return net.Listen("unix", strings.TrimPrefix(address, "unix://"))
+}
diff --git a/server/socket_windows.go b/server/socket_windows.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fbcba0d12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/socket_windows.go
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+// +build windows
+
+package server
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"net"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/Microsoft/go-winio"
+)
+
+func createLocalListener(address string) (net.Listener, error) {
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(address, "npipe://") {
+		return nil, errors.New("Cannot parse address, must start with npipe:// or tcp:// : " + address)
+	}
+	return winio.ListenPipe(strings.TrimPrefix(address, "npipe://"), &winio.PipeConfig{
+		MessageMode:      true,  // Use message mode so that CloseWrite() is supported
+		InputBufferSize:  65536, // Use 64KB buffers to improve performance
+		OutputBufferSize: 65536,
+	})
+}
diff --git a/tests/framework/exec.go b/tests/framework/exec.go
index 36866e44f..d84a83128 100644
--- a/tests/framework/exec.go
+++ b/tests/framework/exec.go
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func NewCommand(command string, args ...string) *CmdContext {
 
 func dockerExecutable() string {
 	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
-		return "./bin/windows/docker.exe"
+		return "./bin/docker.exe"
 	}
 	return "./bin/docker"
 }