diff --git a/lib/automake.mk b/lib/automake.mk
index 70461ec8c..73bc4b219 100644
--- a/lib/automake.mk
+++ b/lib/automake.mk
@@ -459,7 +459,8 @@ EXTRA_DIST += \
 	lib/ssl.xml \
 	lib/ssl-bootstrap.xml \
 	lib/table.xml \
-	lib/vlog.xml
+	lib/vlog.xml \
+	lib/unixctl.xml
 
 MAN_FRAGMENTS += \
 	lib/colors.man \
diff --git a/lib/unixctl.xml b/lib/unixctl.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..51bfc5faa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/unixctl.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<dl>
+  <dt><code>--unixctl=<var>socket</var></code></dt>
+  <dd>
+    Sets the name of the control socket on which
+    <code><var>program</var></code> listens for runtime management commands
+    (see <var>RUNTIME MANAGEMENT COMMANDS,</var> below).  If <var>socket</var>
+    does not begin with <code>/</code>, it is interpreted as relative to
+    <code>@RUNDIR@</code>. If <code>--unixctl</code> is not used at all,
+    the default socket is
+    <code>@RUNDIR@/<var>program</var>.</code><var>pid</var><code>.ctl</code>,
+    where <var>pid</var> is <code><var>program</var></code>'s process ID.
+  <p>
+    On Windows a local named pipe is used to listen for runtime management
+    commands.  A file is created in the absolute path as pointed by
+    <var>socket</var> or if <code>--unixctl</code> is not used at all,
+    a file is created as <code><var>program</var></code> in the configured
+    <var>OVS_RUNDIR</var> directory.  The file exists just to mimic the
+    behavior of a Unix domain socket.
+  </p>
+  <p>
+    Specifying <code>none</code> for <var>socket</var> disables the control
+    socket feature.
+  </p>
+  </dd>
+</dl>
diff --git a/ovn/northd/ovn-northd.8.xml b/ovn/northd/ovn-northd.8.xml
index 78df522c9..10ae42cfa 100644
--- a/ovn/northd/ovn-northd.8.xml
+++ b/ovn/northd/ovn-northd.8.xml
@@ -54,8 +54,11 @@
     <xi:include href="lib/ssl.xml" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude"/>
 
     <h2>Other Options</h2>
-
-    <xi:include href="lib/common.xml" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude"/>
+    <xi:include href="lib/unixctl.xml"
+     xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude"/>
+    <h3></h3>
+    <xi:include href="lib/common.xml"
+     xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude"/>
 
     <h1>Runtime Management Commands</h1>
     <p>
diff --git a/ovn/northd/ovn-northd.c b/ovn/northd/ovn-northd.c
index 82a962b5f..0059cef5d 100644
--- a/ovn/northd/ovn-northd.c
+++ b/ovn/northd/ovn-northd.c
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ struct northd_context {
 
 static const char *ovnnb_db;
 static const char *ovnsb_db;
+static const char *unixctl_path;
 
 #define MAC_ADDR_PREFIX 0x0A0000000000ULL
 #define MAC_ADDR_SPACE 0xffffff
@@ -239,6 +240,7 @@ Options:\n\
                             (default: %s)\n\
   --ovnsb-db=DATABASE       connect to ovn-sb database at DATABASE\n\
                             (default: %s)\n\
+  --unixctl=SOCKET          override default control socket name\n\
   -h, --help                display this help message\n\
   -o, --options             list available options\n\
   -V, --version             display version information\n\
@@ -6701,6 +6703,7 @@ parse_options(int argc OVS_UNUSED, char *argv[] OVS_UNUSED)
     static const struct option long_options[] = {
         {"ovnsb-db", required_argument, NULL, 'd'},
         {"ovnnb-db", required_argument, NULL, 'D'},
+        {"unixctl", required_argument, NULL, 'u'},
         {"help", no_argument, NULL, 'h'},
         {"options", no_argument, NULL, 'o'},
         {"version", no_argument, NULL, 'V'},
@@ -6732,6 +6735,10 @@ parse_options(int argc OVS_UNUSED, char *argv[] OVS_UNUSED)
             ovnnb_db = optarg;
             break;
 
+        case 'u':
+            unixctl_path = optarg;
+            break;
+
         case 'h':
             usage();
             exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
@@ -6784,7 +6791,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
     daemonize_start(false);
 
-    retval = unixctl_server_create(NULL, &unixctl);
+    retval = unixctl_server_create(unixctl_path, &unixctl);
     if (retval) {
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
diff --git a/tests/ovn-northd.at b/tests/ovn-northd.at
index baa2add41..1878eb2df 100644
--- a/tests/ovn-northd.at
+++ b/tests/ovn-northd.at
@@ -262,3 +262,42 @@ AT_CHECK_UNQUOTED([ovn-sbctl get Port_Binding ${uuid} options:ipv6_ra_prefixes],
 ])
 
 AT_CLEANUP
+
+AT_SETUP([ovn -- test unixctl])
+ovn_init_db ovn-sb; ovn-sbctl init
+ovn_init_db ovn-nb; ovn-nbctl init
+
+# test unixctl option
+mkdir "$ovs_base"/northd
+as northd start_daemon ovn-northd --unixctl="$ovs_base"/northd/ovn-northd.ctl --ovnnb-db=unix:"$ovs_base"/ovn-nb/ovn-nb.sock --ovnsb-db=unix:"$ovs_base"/ovn-sb/ovn-sb.sock
+ovn-nbctl ls-add sw
+ovn-nbctl --wait=sb lsp-add sw p1
+# northd created with unixctl option successfully created port_binding entry
+AT_CHECK([ovn-sbctl --bare --columns datapath find port_binding logical_port="p1" | wc -l], [0], [1
+])
+AT_CHECK([ovn-nbctl --wait=sb lsp-del p1])
+
+# ovs-appctl exit with unixctl option
+OVS_APP_EXIT_AND_WAIT_BY_TARGET(["$ovs_base"/northd/ovn-northd.ctl], ["$ovs_base"/northd/ovn-northd.pid])
+
+# Check no port_binding entry for new port as ovn-northd is not running
+ovn-nbctl lsp-add sw p2
+ovn-nbctl --timeout=10 --wait=sb sync
+AT_CHECK([ovn-sbctl --bare --columns datapath find port_binding logical_port="p2" | wc -l], [0], [0
+])
+
+# test default unixctl path
+as northd start_daemon ovn-northd --ovnnb-db=unix:"$ovs_base"/ovn-nb/ovn-nb.sock --ovnsb-db=unix:"$ovs_base"/ovn-sb/ovn-sb.sock
+ovn-nbctl --wait=sb lsp-add sw p3
+# northd created with default unixctl path successfully created port_binding entry
+AT_CHECK([ovn-sbctl --bare --columns datapath find port_binding logical_port="p3" | wc -l], [0], [1
+])
+
+as ovn-sb
+OVS_APP_EXIT_AND_WAIT([ovsdb-server])
+as ovn-nb
+OVS_APP_EXIT_AND_WAIT([ovsdb-server])
+as northd
+OVS_APP_EXIT_AND_WAIT([ovn-northd])
+
+AT_CLEANUP
