diff --git a/tests/server/sws.c b/tests/server/sws.c
index 766c46a43..03e0d0c3d 100644
--- a/tests/server/sws.c
+++ b/tests/server/sws.c
@@ -2143,6 +2143,48 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     me.sau.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
     strncpy(me.sau.sun_path, unix_socket, sizeof(me.sau.sun_path));
     rc = bind(sock, &me.sa, sizeof(me.sau));
+    if(0 != rc && errno == EADDRINUSE) {
+      struct stat statbuf;
+      /* socket already exists. Perhaps it is stale? */
+      int unixfd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+      if(CURL_SOCKET_BAD == unixfd) {
+        error = SOCKERRNO;
+        logmsg("Error binding socket, failed to create socket at %s: (%d) %s",
+               unix_socket, error, strerror(error));
+        goto sws_cleanup;
+      }
+      /* check whether the server is alive */
+      rc = connect(unixfd, &me.sa, sizeof(me.sau));
+      error = errno;
+      close(unixfd);
+      if(ECONNREFUSED != error) {
+        logmsg("Error binding socket, failed to connect to %s: (%d) %s",
+               unix_socket, error, strerror(error));
+        goto sws_cleanup;
+      }
+      /* socket server is not alive, now check if it was actually a socket.
+       * Systems which have UNIX sockets will also have lstat */
+      rc = lstat(unix_socket, &statbuf);
+      if (0 != rc) {
+        logmsg("Error binding socket, failed to stat %s: (%d) %s",
+               unix_socket, errno, strerror(errno));
+        goto sws_cleanup;
+      }
+      if((statbuf.st_mode & S_IFSOCK) != S_IFSOCK) {
+        logmsg("Error binding socket, failed to stat %s: (%d) %s",
+               unix_socket, error, strerror(error));
+        goto sws_cleanup;
+      }
+      /* dead socket, cleanup and retry bind */
+      rc = unlink(unix_socket);
+      if(0 != rc) {
+        logmsg("Error binding socket, failed to unlink %s: (%d) %s",
+               unix_socket, errno, strerror(errno));
+        goto sws_cleanup;
+      }
+      /* stale socket is gone, retry bind */
+      rc = bind(sock, &me.sa, sizeof(me.sau));
+    }
     break;
 #endif /* USE_UNIX_SOCKETS */
   }