diff --git a/probe/cri/registry.go b/probe/cri/registry.go
index c346ec59b3..a069103e24 100644
--- a/probe/cri/registry.go
+++ b/probe/cri/registry.go
@@ -11,48 +11,59 @@ import (
 	client "github.com/weaveworks/scope/cri/runtime"
 )
 
-const unixProtocol = "unix"
+const (
+	unixProtocol = "unix"
+	tcpProtocol  = "tcp"
+)
 
 func dial(addr string, timeout time.Duration) (net.Conn, error) {
 	return net.DialTimeout(unixProtocol, addr, timeout)
 }
 
 func getAddressAndDialer(endpoint string) (string, func(addr string, timeout time.Duration) (net.Conn, error), error) {
-	protocol, addr, err := parseEndpointWithFallbackProtocol(endpoint, unixProtocol)
+	addr, err := parseEndpointWithFallbackProtocol(endpoint, unixProtocol)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", nil, err
 	}
-	if protocol != unixProtocol {
-		return "", nil, fmt.Errorf("endpoint was not unix socket %v", protocol)
-	}
 
 	return addr, dial, nil
 }
 
-func parseEndpointWithFallbackProtocol(endpoint string, fallbackProtocol string) (protocol string, addr string, err error) {
-	if protocol, addr, err = parseEndpoint(endpoint); err != nil && protocol == "" {
+func parseEndpointWithFallbackProtocol(endpoint string, fallbackProtocol string) (addr string, err error) {
+	var protocol string
+
+	protocol, addr, err = parseEndpoint(endpoint)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	if protocol == "" {
 		fallbackEndpoint := fallbackProtocol + "://" + endpoint
-		protocol, addr, err = parseEndpoint(fallbackEndpoint)
+		_, addr, err = parseEndpoint(fallbackEndpoint)
+
 		if err != nil {
-			return "", "", err
+			return "", err
 		}
 	}
-	return
+	return addr, err
 }
 
 func parseEndpoint(endpoint string) (string, string, error) {
 	u, err := url.Parse(endpoint)
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", "", err
 	}
 
-	if u.Scheme == "tcp" {
-		return "tcp", u.Host, nil
-	} else if u.Scheme == "unix" {
-		return "unix", u.Path, nil
-	} else if u.Scheme == "" {
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("Using %q as endpoint is deprecated, please consider using full url format", endpoint)
-	} else {
+	switch u.Scheme {
+	case tcpProtocol:
+		return tcpProtocol, u.Host, fmt.Errorf("endpoint was not unix socket %v", u.Scheme)
+	case unixProtocol:
+		return unixProtocol, u.Path, nil
+	case "":
+		return "", "", nil
+	default:
 		return u.Scheme, "", fmt.Errorf("protocol %q not supported", u.Scheme)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/probe/cri/registry_test.go b/probe/cri/registry_test.go
index 916f06e4fd..2c91a16842 100644
--- a/probe/cri/registry_test.go
+++ b/probe/cri/registry_test.go
@@ -7,15 +7,36 @@ import (
 	"github.com/weaveworks/scope/probe/cri"
 )
 
-func TestParseHttpEndpointUrl(t *testing.T) {
-	_, err := cri.NewCRIClient("http://xyz.com")
+var nonUnixSocketsTest = []struct {
+	endpoint     string
+	errorMessage string
+}{
+	{"http://xyz.com", "protocol \"http\" not supported"},
+	{"tcp://var/unix.sock", "endpoint was not unix socket tcp"},
+	{"http://[fe80::%31]/", "parse http://[fe80::%31]/: invalid URL escape \"%31\""},
+}
+
+func TestParseNonUnixEndpointUrl(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tt := range nonUnixSocketsTest {
+		_, err := cri.NewCRIClient(tt.endpoint)
 
-	assert.Equal(t, "protocol \"http\" not supported", err.Error())
+		assert.Equal(t, tt.errorMessage, err.Error())
+	}
 }
 
-func TestParseTcpEndpointUrl(t *testing.T) {
-	client, err := cri.NewCRIClient("127.0.0.1")
+var unixSocketsTest = []string{
+	"127.0.0.1", // tests the fallback endpoint
+	"unix://127.0.0.1",
+	"unix///var/run/dockershim.sock",
+	"var/run/dockershim.sock",
+}
+
+func TestParseUnixEndpointUrl(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tt := range unixSocketsTest {
+		client, err := cri.NewCRIClient(tt)
+
+		assert.Equal(t, nil, err)
+		assert.NotEqual(t, nil, client)
+	}
 
-	assert.Equal(t, nil, err)
-	assert.NotEqual(t, nil, client)
 }