diff --git a/scripts/riot b/scripts/riot
index fe11a78..c33dcfa 100755
--- a/scripts/riot
+++ b/scripts/riot
@@ -195,16 +195,35 @@ run_ssh()
 # sshl
 run_sshl()
 {
-    local arg="$1"
-    if [[ "$arg" != *":"* ]]; then
-        # treat as a port number
-        arg=localhost:$arg
+    is_port() {
+        if [[ "$1" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ && $1 -gt 1 && $1 -lt 65535 ]]; then return 0; else return 1; fi
+    }
+    res="${1//[^:]}"
+    if [[ ${#res} -eq 2 ]]; then
+        arg="$1"
+    elif [[ ${#res} -eq 0 ]]; then
+        arg="$(get_free_port):localhost:$1"
+    else
+        left=${1%%:*}
+        right=${1##*:}
+        if is_port "$left"; then
+            arg="$1"
+        elif is_port "$right"; then
+            arg="$(get_free_port):$1"
+        else
+            arg="$1"
+            localsock=1
+        fi
     fi
-    local port=$(get_free_port)
-    SSH_OPTIONS+=("-NC" "-L" "$port:$arg")
+    if [[ "$localsock" == "1" ]]; then
+        access="unix://${arg%%:*}"
+    else
+        access="localhost:${arg%%:*}"
+    fi
+    SSH_OPTIONS+=("-NC" "-L" "$arg")
     prepare_ssh_cmd ssh
     print_cmd
-    fmt_note "  > please access localhost:$port"
+    fmt_note "  > please access $access"
     eval_or_echo
 }