diff --git a/src/sfxd.c b/src/sfxd.c
index f4be5d8..1f8395e 100644
--- a/src/sfxd.c
+++ b/src/sfxd.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "common.h"
 #include "miniaudio.h"
+#include <errno.h>
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/un.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
@@ -105,6 +107,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     }
   }
 
+  {
+    struct stat statbuf;
+    int status = stat(sock_path, &statbuf);
+    if (status == 0 && !S_ISSOCK(statbuf.st_mode)) {
+      PANIC("Specified sock_path is not a socket");
+    }
+  }
 
   if (!ipc_init(sock_path)) {
     unlink(sock_path);