diff --git a/common/net.go b/common/net.go
index 2f9c9c8c2..bdbe38f79 100644
--- a/common/net.go
+++ b/common/net.go
@@ -5,10 +5,22 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 )
 
-// protoAddr: e.g. "tcp://127.0.0.1:8080" or "unix:///tmp/test.sock"
+// Connect dials the given address and returns a net.Conn. The protoAddr argument should be prefixed with the protocol,
+// eg. "tcp://127.0.0.1:8080" or "unix:///tmp/test.sock"
 func Connect(protoAddr string) (net.Conn, error) {
-	parts := strings.SplitN(protoAddr, "://", 2)
-	proto, address := parts[0], parts[1]
+	proto, address := ProtocolAndAddress(protoAddr)
 	conn, err := net.Dial(proto, address)
 	return conn, err
 }
+
+// ProtocolAndAddress splits an address into the protocol and address components.
+// For instance, "tcp://127.0.0.1:8080" will be split into "tcp" and "127.0.0.1:8080".
+// If the address has no protocol prefix, the default is "tcp".
+func ProtocolAndAddress(listenAddr string) (string, string) {
+	protocol, address := "tcp", listenAddr
+	parts := strings.SplitN(address, "://", 2)
+	if len(parts) == 2 {
+		protocol, address = parts[0], parts[1]
+	}
+	return protocol, address
+}
diff --git a/common/net_test.go b/common/net_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..38d2ae82d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/net_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package common
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestProtocolAndAddress(t *testing.T) {
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		fullAddr string
+		proto    string
+		addr     string
+	}{
+		{
+			"tcp://mydomain:80",
+			"tcp",
+			"mydomain:80",
+		},
+		{
+			"mydomain:80",
+			"tcp",
+			"mydomain:80",
+		},
+		{
+			"unix://mydomain:80",
+			"unix",
+			"mydomain:80",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, c := range cases {
+		proto, addr := ProtocolAndAddress(c.fullAddr)
+		assert.Equal(t, proto, c.proto)
+		assert.Equal(t, addr, c.addr)
+	}
+}