diff --git a/systests/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/systest/connection/ExistingSocketTest.java b/systests/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/systest/connection/ExistingSocketTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..695c56a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/systests/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/systest/connection/ExistingSocketTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+/*
+ *
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ *
+ */
+
+package org.apache.qpid.systest.connection;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.net.Socket;
+
+import javax.jms.Connection;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import org.apache.qpid.client.AMQConnection;
+import org.apache.qpid.systest.core.BrokerAdmin;
+import org.apache.qpid.systest.core.JmsTestBase;
+import org.apache.qpid.transport.network.io.IoNetworkTransport;
+
+public class ExistingSocketTest extends JmsTestBase
+{
+    private static final String SOCKET_NAME = "mysock";
+    private static final String CONNECTION_URL_TEMPLATE = "amqp://%s:%s@/%s?brokerlist='socket://%s'";
+
+    @Test
+    public void testExistingSocket_SuccessfulConnection() throws Exception
+    {
+        BrokerAdmin brokerAdmin = getBrokerAdmin();
+        InetSocketAddress brokerAddress = brokerAdmin.getBrokerAddress(BrokerAdmin.PortType.AMQP);
+        try (Socket sock = new Socket("localhost", brokerAddress.getPort()))
+        {
+
+            IoNetworkTransport.registerOpenSocket(SOCKET_NAME, sock);
+
+            String url = String.format(CONNECTION_URL_TEMPLATE,
+                                       brokerAdmin.getValidUsername(),
+                                       brokerAdmin.getValidUsername(),
+                                       brokerAdmin.getVirtualHostName(),
+                                       SOCKET_NAME);
+
+            Connection conn = new AMQConnection(url);
+            conn.createSession(true, javax.jms.Session.SESSION_TRANSACTED);
+            conn.close();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testExistingSocket_UnknownSocket() throws Exception
+    {
+        final Object unknownSockName = "unknownSock";
+
+        BrokerAdmin brokerAdmin = getBrokerAdmin();
+
+        String url = String.format(CONNECTION_URL_TEMPLATE,
+                                   brokerAdmin.getValidUsername(),
+                                   brokerAdmin.getValidUsername(),
+                                   brokerAdmin.getVirtualHostName(),
+                                   unknownSockName);
+
+        try
+        {
+            new AMQConnection(url);
+        }
+        catch (Exception e)
+        {
+            String expected = String.format("No socket registered with id '%s'",
+                                            unknownSockName);
+            assertTrue("Unexpected exception message : " + e.getMessage(), e.getMessage().contains(expected));
+        }
+    }
+}