diff --git a/src/libei-socket.c b/src/libei-socket.c
index f4bcd4a..9884e8b 100644
--- a/src/libei-socket.c
+++ b/src/libei-socket.c
@@ -76,13 +76,17 @@ _public_ int
 ei_socket_init(struct ei *ei, const char *socketpath)
 {
 	assert(ei);
-	assert(socketpath);
-	assert(socketpath[0] != '\0');
 
 	int rc = ei_init(ei);
 	if (rc)
 		return -rc;
 
+	if (!socketpath)
+		socketpath = getenv("LIBEI_SOCKET");
+
+	assert(socketpath);
+	assert(socketpath[0] != '\0');
+
 	_cleanup_free_ char *path;
 	if (socketpath[0] == '/') {
 		path = xstrdup(socketpath);