diff --git a/src/viam/sdk/module/service.cpp b/src/viam/sdk/module/service.cpp
index 738ffae91..4884201ab 100644
--- a/src/viam/sdk/module/service.cpp
+++ b/src/viam/sdk/module/service.cpp
@@ -269,7 +269,11 @@ ModuleService::~ModuleService() {
 
 void ModuleService::serve() {
     server_->register_service(impl_.get());
-    const std::string address = "unix:" + module_->addr();
+    std::string address;
+    if (module_->addr().find(':') == std::string::npos) {
+        address += "unix:";
+    }
+    address += module_->addr();
     server_->add_listening_port(address);
 
     module_->set_ready();
diff --git a/src/viam/sdk/robot/client.cpp b/src/viam/sdk/robot/client.cpp
index 740c50fff..34f392830 100644
--- a/src/viam/sdk/robot/client.cpp
+++ b/src/viam/sdk/robot/client.cpp
@@ -294,7 +294,11 @@ std::shared_ptr<RobotClient> RobotClient::at_address(const std::string& address,
 
 std::shared_ptr<RobotClient> RobotClient::at_local_socket(const std::string& address,
                                                           const Options& options) {
-    const std::string addr = "unix://" + address;
+    std::string addr;
+    if (address.find(':') == std::string::npos) {
+        addr += "unix:";
+    }
+    addr += address;
     auto robot = RobotClient::with_channel(
         ViamChannel(sdk::impl::create_viam_channel(addr, grpc::InsecureChannelCredentials())),
         options);