diff --git a/src/libeis-socket.c b/src/libeis-socket.c
index b57cb9b..8b6e3bc 100644
--- a/src/libeis-socket.c
+++ b/src/libeis-socket.c
@@ -24,8 +24,11 @@
 #include "config.h"
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <sys/file.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/un.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
 
 #include "util-io.h"
 #include "util-object.h"
@@ -41,6 +44,8 @@ struct eis_socket {
 	struct object object;
 	struct source *listener;
 	char *socketpath;
+	char *lockpath;
+	int lockfd;
 };
 
 static inline struct eis_socket *
@@ -54,6 +59,10 @@ eis_socket_destroy(struct eis_socket *socket)
 {
 	source_remove(socket->listener);
 	socket->listener = source_unref(socket->listener);
+	if (socket->lockpath) {
+		unlink(socket->lockpath);
+		xclose(socket->lockfd);
+	}
 	if (socket->socketpath) {
 		unlink(socket->socketpath);
 		free(socket->socketpath);
@@ -115,6 +124,32 @@ eis_setup_backend_socket(struct eis *eis, const char *socketpath)
 		path = xaprintf("%s/%s", xdg, socketpath);
 	}
 
+	/* Create a lockfile first, if that succeeds but the real socket path exists
+	 * it's a leftover from an unclean shutdown and we can remove the old
+	 * socket file. */
+	_cleanup_free_ char *lockfile = xaprintf("%s.lock", path);
+	_cleanup_close_ int lockfd = open(lockfile, O_CREAT|O_CLOEXEC|O_RDWR,
+					  (S_IRUSR|S_IWUSR|S_IRGRP|S_IWGRP));
+	int rc = flock(lockfd, LOCK_EX | LOCK_NB);
+	if (rc < 0) {
+		log_error(eis, "Failed to create lockfile %s, is another EIS running?", lockfile);
+		return -errno;
+	}
+
+	struct stat st;
+	rc = lstat(path, &st);
+	if (rc < 0) {
+		if (errno != ENOENT) {
+			log_error(eis, "Failed to stat socket path %s (%s)",
+				  path, strerror(errno));
+			return -errno;
+		}
+	} else if (st.st_mode & (S_IWUSR|S_IWGRP)) {
+		unlink(path);
+	}
+
+	/* Lockfile succeeded and path is unlinked (if it existed), let's set
+	 * up the socket */
 	struct sockaddr_un addr = {
 		.sun_family = AF_UNIX,
 		.sun_path = {0},
@@ -133,16 +168,19 @@ eis_setup_backend_socket(struct eis *eis, const char *socketpath)
 		return -errno;
 
 	struct source *s = source_new(sockfd, listener_dispatch, eis_socket);
-	int rc = sink_add_source(eis->sink, s);
+	rc = sink_add_source(eis->sink, s);
 	if (rc == 0) {
 		eis_socket->listener = source_ref(s);
 		eis_socket->socketpath = steal(&path);
+		eis_socket->lockpath = steal(&lockfile);
+		eis_socket->lockfd = lockfd;
 		eis->backend = steal(&eis_socket);
 		eis->backend_interface = interface;
 	}
 
 	source_unref(s);
 	sockfd = -1;
+	lockfd = -1;
 
 	return rc;
 }
diff --git a/tools/eis-demo-server.c b/tools/eis-demo-server.c
index 63a4975..6e26ce5 100644
--- a/tools/eis-demo-server.c
+++ b/tools/eis-demo-server.c
@@ -288,14 +288,13 @@ static void
 usage(FILE *fp, const char *argv0)
 {
 	fprintf(fp,
-		"Usage: %s [--verbose] [--uinput] [--socketpath=/path/to/socket] [--force]\n"
+		"Usage: %s [--verbose] [--uinput] [--socketpath=/path/to/socket]\n"
 		"\n"
 		"Start an EIS demo server. The server accepts all client connections\n"
 		"and devices and prints any events from the client to stdout.\n"
 		"\n"
 		"Options:\n"
 		" --socketpath	Use the given socket path. Default: $XDG_RUNTIME/eis-0\n"
-		" --force	Remove the socket if it already exists\n"
 		" --layout	Use the given XKB layout (requires libxkbcommon). Default: none\n"
 		" --uinput	Set up each device as uinput device (this requires root)\n"
 		" --verbose	Enable debugging output\n"
@@ -307,7 +306,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	bool verbose = false;
 	bool uinput = false;
-	bool force = false;
 	const char *layout = NULL;
 
 	_cleanup_unlink_free_ char *socketpath = NULL;
@@ -320,14 +318,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			OPT_VERBOSE,
 			OPT_LAYOUT,
 			OPT_SOCKETPATH,
-			OPT_FORCE,
 			OPT_UINPUT,
 		};
 		static struct option long_opts[] = {
 			{"socketpath",	required_argument, 0, OPT_SOCKETPATH},
 			{"layout",	required_argument, 0, OPT_LAYOUT},
 			{"uinput",	no_argument, 0, OPT_UINPUT},
-			{"force",	no_argument, 0, OPT_FORCE},
 			{"verbose",	no_argument,0, OPT_VERBOSE},
 			{"help",	no_argument,0, 'h'},
 			{NULL},
@@ -352,9 +348,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			case OPT_UINPUT:
 				uinput = true;
 				break;
-			case OPT_FORCE:
-				force = true;
-				break;
 			case OPT_VERBOSE:
 				verbose = true;
 				break;
@@ -394,9 +387,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	signal(SIGINT, sighandler);
 
-	if (force)
-		unlink(socketpath);
-
 	int rc = eis_setup_backend_socket(eis, socketpath);
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "init failed: %s\n", strerror(errno));