diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.c b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
index 90e9b6796e..a08705603a 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.c
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
@@ -2964,7 +2964,7 @@ virStorageSourceParseNBDColonString(const char *nbdstr,
         }
 
         src->hosts->socket = g_strdup(backing[2]);
-
+        src->hosts->transport = VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_UNIX;
    } else {
         src->hosts->name = g_strdup(backing[1]);
 
diff --git a/tests/virstoragetest.c b/tests/virstoragetest.c
index 2862758752..370e19252b 100644
--- a/tests/virstoragetest.c
+++ b/tests/virstoragetest.c
@@ -1258,6 +1258,10 @@ mymain(void)
                        "<source protocol='nbd' name=':test'>\n"
                        "  <host name='example.org' port='6000'/>\n"
                        "</source>\n");
+    TEST_BACKING_PARSE("nbd:unix:/tmp/sock:exportname=/",
+                       "<source protocol='nbd' name='/'>\n"
+                       "  <host transport='unix' socket='/tmp/sock'/>\n"
+                       "</source>\n");
     TEST_BACKING_PARSE("nbd://example.org:1234",
                        "<source protocol='nbd'>\n"
                        "  <host name='example.org' port='1234'/>\n"