diff --git a/clientconn.go b/clientconn.go
index b35ba94f292d..2841614abab0 100644
--- a/clientconn.go
+++ b/clientconn.go
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ func DialContext(ctx context.Context, target string, opts ...DialOption) (conn *
 		cc.authority = creds.Info().ServerName
 	} else if cc.dopts.insecure && cc.dopts.authority != "" {
 		cc.authority = cc.dopts.authority
-	} else if strings.HasPrefix(cc.target, "unix:") {
+	} else if strings.HasPrefix(cc.target, "unix:") || strings.HasPrefix(cc.target, "unix-abstract:") {
 		cc.authority = "localhost"
 	} else if strings.HasPrefix(cc.parsedTarget.Endpoint, ":") {
 		cc.authority = "localhost" + cc.parsedTarget.Endpoint
diff --git a/internal/grpcutil/target.go b/internal/grpcutil/target.go
index baa3479f12ca..8833021da02e 100644
--- a/internal/grpcutil/target.go
+++ b/internal/grpcutil/target.go
@@ -41,10 +41,30 @@ func split2(s, sep string) (string, string, bool) {
 // not parse "unix:[path]" cases. This should be true in cases where a custom
 // dialer is present, to prevent a behavior change.
 //
-// If target is not a valid scheme://authority/endpoint, it returns {Endpoint:
-// target}.
+// If target is not a valid scheme://authority/endpoint as specified in
+// https://github.com/grpc/grpc/blob/master/doc/naming.md,
+// it returns {Endpoint: target}.
 func ParseTarget(target string, skipUnixColonParsing bool) (ret resolver.Target) {
 	var ok bool
+	if strings.HasPrefix(target, "unix-abstract:") {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(target, "unix-abstract://") {
+			// Maybe, with Authority specified, try to parse it
+			var remain string
+			ret.Scheme, remain, _ = split2(target, "://")
+			ret.Authority, ret.Endpoint, ok = split2(remain, "/")
+			if !ok {
+				// No Authority, add the "//" back
+				ret.Endpoint = "//" + remain
+			} else {
+				// Found Authority, add the "/" back
+				ret.Endpoint = "/" + ret.Endpoint
+			}
+		} else {
+			// Without Authority specified, split target on ":"
+			ret.Scheme, ret.Endpoint, _ = split2(target, ":")
+		}
+		return ret
+	}
 	ret.Scheme, ret.Endpoint, ok = split2(target, "://")
 	if !ok {
 		if strings.HasPrefix(target, "unix:") && !skipUnixColonParsing {
diff --git a/internal/grpcutil/target_test.go b/internal/grpcutil/target_test.go
index 6083e84d75ae..f6c586dd0808 100644
--- a/internal/grpcutil/target_test.go
+++ b/internal/grpcutil/target_test.go
@@ -84,6 +84,18 @@ func TestParseTargetString(t *testing.T) {
 		{targetStr: "unix:/a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix", Authority: "", Endpoint: "/a/b/c"}, wantWithDialer: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "unix:/a/b/c"}},
 		{targetStr: "unix:///a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix", Authority: "", Endpoint: "/a/b/c"}},
 
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract:a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "", Endpoint: "a/b/c"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract:a b", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "", Endpoint: "a b"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract:a:b", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "", Endpoint: "a:b"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract:a-b", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "", Endpoint: "a-b"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract:/ a///://::!@#$%^&*()b", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "", Endpoint: "/ a///://::!@#$%^&*()b"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract:passthrough:abc", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "", Endpoint: "passthrough:abc"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract:unix:///abc", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "", Endpoint: "unix:///abc"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract:///a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "", Endpoint: "/a/b/c"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract://authority/a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "authority", Endpoint: "/a/b/c"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract:///", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "", Endpoint: "/"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix-abstract://authority", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix-abstract", Authority: "", Endpoint: "//authority"}},
+
 		{targetStr: "passthrough:///unix:///a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "passthrough", Authority: "", Endpoint: "unix:///a/b/c"}},
 	} {
 		got := ParseTarget(test.targetStr, false)
diff --git a/internal/resolver/unix/unix.go b/internal/resolver/unix/unix.go
index 8e78d47197c8..0d5a811ddfad 100644
--- a/internal/resolver/unix/unix.go
+++ b/internal/resolver/unix/unix.go
@@ -26,20 +26,28 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/resolver"
 )
 
-const scheme = "unix"
+const unixScheme = "unix"
+const unixAbstractScheme = "unix-abstract"
 
-type builder struct{}
+type builder struct {
+	scheme string
+}
 
-func (*builder) Build(target resolver.Target, cc resolver.ClientConn, _ resolver.BuildOptions) (resolver.Resolver, error) {
+func (b *builder) Build(target resolver.Target, cc resolver.ClientConn, _ resolver.BuildOptions) (resolver.Resolver, error) {
 	if target.Authority != "" {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid (non-empty) authority: %v", target.Authority)
 	}
-	cc.UpdateState(resolver.State{Addresses: []resolver.Address{networktype.Set(resolver.Address{Addr: target.Endpoint}, "unix")}})
+	addr := resolver.Address{Addr: target.Endpoint}
+	if b.scheme == unixAbstractScheme {
+		// prepend "\x00" to address for unix-abstract
+		addr.Addr = "\x00" + addr.Addr
+	}
+	cc.UpdateState(resolver.State{Addresses: []resolver.Address{networktype.Set(addr, "unix")}})
 	return &nopResolver{}, nil
 }
 
-func (*builder) Scheme() string {
-	return scheme
+func (b *builder) Scheme() string {
+	return b.scheme
 }
 
 type nopResolver struct {
@@ -50,5 +58,6 @@ func (*nopResolver) ResolveNow(resolver.ResolveNowOptions) {}
 func (*nopResolver) Close() {}
 
 func init() {
-	resolver.Register(&builder{})
+	resolver.Register(&builder{scheme: unixScheme})
+	resolver.Register(&builder{scheme: unixAbstractScheme})
 }
diff --git a/internal/transport/http2_client.go b/internal/transport/http2_client.go
index 4c9f9740ec71..8902b7f90d9d 100644
--- a/internal/transport/http2_client.go
+++ b/internal/transport/http2_client.go
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ func dial(ctx context.Context, fn func(context.Context, string) (net.Conn, error
 	address := addr.Addr
 	networkType, ok := networktype.Get(addr)
 	if fn != nil {
-		if networkType == "unix" {
+		if networkType == "unix" && !strings.HasPrefix(address, "\x00") {
 			// For backward compatibility, if the user dialed "unix:///path",
 			// the passthrough resolver would be used and the user's custom
 			// dialer would see "unix:///path". Since the unix resolver is used
diff --git a/test/authority_test.go b/test/authority_test.go
index e6599b2fde04..f4e05cbaf875 100644
--- a/test/authority_test.go
+++ b/test/authority_test.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"os"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -53,8 +54,10 @@ func authorityChecker(ctx context.Context, expectedAuthority string) (*testpb.Em
 }
 
 func runUnixTest(t *testing.T, address, target, expectedAuthority string, dialer func(context.Context, string) (net.Conn, error)) {
-	if err := os.RemoveAll(address); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Error removing socket file %v: %v\n", address, err)
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(target, "unix-abstract:") {
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(address); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Error removing socket file %v: %v\n", address, err)
+		}
 	}
 	ss := &stubServer{
 		emptyCall: func(ctx context.Context, _ *testpb.Empty) (*testpb.Empty, error) {
@@ -114,6 +117,13 @@ var authorityTests = []authorityTest{
 		authority:      "unix:///tmp/sock.sock",
 		dialTargetWant: "unix:///tmp/sock.sock",
 	},
+	{
+		name:           "UnixAbstract",
+		address:        "\x00abc efg",
+		target:         "unix-abstract:abc efg",
+		authority:      "localhost",
+		dialTargetWant: "\x00abc efg",
+	},
 }
 
 // TestUnix does end to end tests with the various supported unix target
@@ -139,7 +149,9 @@ func (s) TestUnixCustomDialer(t *testing.T) {
 				if address != test.dialTargetWant {
 					return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected target %v in custom dialer, instead got %v", test.dialTargetWant, address)
 				}
-				address = address[len("unix:"):]
+				if !strings.HasPrefix(test.target, "unix-abstract:") {
+					address = address[len("unix:"):]
+				}
 				return (&net.Dialer{}).DialContext(ctx, "unix", address)
 			}
 			runUnixTest(t, test.address, test.target, test.authority, dialer)