diff --git a/src/lib/bml/bml.c b/src/lib/bml/bml.c
index 19d88330f..ab1429773 100644
--- a/src/lib/bml/bml.c
+++ b/src/lib/bml/bml.c
@@ -130,12 +130,12 @@ bmpipc_connect (void)
     return FALSE;
   }
   address.sun_family = PF_LOCAL;
-  strcpy (address.sun_path, socket_file);
+  strcpy (&address.sun_path[1], socket_file);
   while (retries < 3) {
     int res;
     if ((res =
             connect (server_socket, (struct sockaddr *) &address,
-                sizeof (address))) == 0) {
+                sizeof (sa_family_t) + strlen (socket_file) + 1)) == 0) {
       TRACE ("server connected after %d retries\n", retries);
       break;
     } else {
@@ -750,12 +750,10 @@ bml_setup (void)
 #ifdef DEV_BUILD
   if (getenv ("BMLIPC_DEBUG")) {
     // allows to run this manually, we will then not spawn a new one here
-    snprintf (socket_file, (SOCKET_PATH_MAX - 1), "/tmp/bml.sock");
+    snprintf (socket_file, (SOCKET_PATH_MAX - 1), "bml.sock");
   } else {
 #endif
-    snprintf (socket_file, (SOCKET_PATH_MAX - 1), "/tmp/bml.%d.XXXXXX",
-        (int) getpid ());
-    mktemp (socket_file);
+    snprintf (socket_file, (SOCKET_PATH_MAX - 1), "bml.%d", (int) getpid ());
 #ifdef DEV_BUILD
   }
 #endif
diff --git a/src/lib/bml/bmlhost.c b/src/lib/bml/bmlhost.c
index 7d9b8406d..a4fb28f15 100644
--- a/src/lib/bml/bmlhost.c
+++ b/src/lib/bml/bmlhost.c
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
   int server_socket, client_socket;
   socklen_t addrlen;
   ssize_t size;
-  struct sockaddr_un address;
+  struct sockaddr_un address = { 0, };
   int running = TRUE;
   BmlIpcBuf bo = IPC_BUF_INIT, bi = IPC_BUF_INIT;
   BmAPI id;
@@ -426,8 +426,9 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 
   unlink (socket_file);
   address.sun_family = PF_LOCAL;
-  strcpy (address.sun_path, socket_file);
-  if (bind (server_socket, (struct sockaddr *) &address, sizeof (address)) != 0) {
+  strcpy (&address.sun_path[1], socket_file);
+  if (bind (server_socket, (struct sockaddr *) &address,
+          sizeof (sa_family_t) + strlen (socket_file) + 1) != 0) {
     TRACE ("socket path already in use!\n");
   }
   listen (server_socket, /* backlog of pending connections */ 5);