diff --git a/internal/grpcutil/target.go b/internal/grpcutil/target.go
index 3e1b22f5a8c0..baa3479f12ca 100644
--- a/internal/grpcutil/target.go
+++ b/internal/grpcutil/target.go
@@ -48,9 +48,10 @@ func ParseTarget(target string, skipUnixColonParsing bool) (ret resolver.Target)
 	ret.Scheme, ret.Endpoint, ok = split2(target, "://")
 	if !ok {
 		if strings.HasPrefix(target, "unix:") && !skipUnixColonParsing {
-			// Handle the "unix:[path]" case, because splitting on :// only
-			// handles the "unix://[/absolute/path]" case. Only handle if the
-			// dialer is nil, to avoid a behavior change with custom dialers.
+			// Handle the "unix:[local/path]" and "unix:[/absolute/path]" cases,
+			// because splitting on :// only handles the
+			// "unix://[/absolute/path]" case. Only handle if the dialer is nil,
+			// to avoid a behavior change with custom dialers.
 			return resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix", Endpoint: target[len("unix:"):]}
 		}
 		return resolver.Target{Endpoint: target}
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ func ParseTarget(target string, skipUnixColonParsing bool) (ret resolver.Target)
 	}
 	if ret.Scheme == "unix" {
 		// Add the "/" back in the unix case, so the unix resolver receives the
-		// actual endpoint.
+		// actual endpoint in the "unix://[/absolute/path]" case.
 		ret.Endpoint = "/" + ret.Endpoint
 	}
 	return ret
diff --git a/internal/grpcutil/target_test.go b/internal/grpcutil/target_test.go
index 562390bfe381..6083e84d75ae 100644
--- a/internal/grpcutil/target_test.go
+++ b/internal/grpcutil/target_test.go
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ func TestParseTargetString(t *testing.T) {
 		// If we can only parse part of the target.
 		{targetStr: "://", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "://"}},
 		{targetStr: "unix://domain", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "unix://domain"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix://a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix", Authority: "a", Endpoint: "/b/c"}},
 		{targetStr: "a:b", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "a:b"}},
 		{targetStr: "a/b", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "a/b"}},
 		{targetStr: "a:/b", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "a:/b"}},
@@ -77,10 +78,13 @@ func TestParseTargetString(t *testing.T) {
 		{targetStr: "a://b", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "a://b"}},
 
 		// Unix cases without custom dialer.
-		// unix:[local_path] and unix:[/absolute] have different behaviors with
-		// a custom dialer, to prevent behavior changes with custom dialers.
-		{targetStr: "unix:domain", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix", Authority: "", Endpoint: "domain"}, wantWithDialer: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "unix:domain"}},
-		{targetStr: "unix:/domain", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix", Authority: "", Endpoint: "/domain"}, wantWithDialer: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "unix:/domain"}},
+		// unix:[local_path], unix:[/absolute], and unix://[/absolute] have different
+		// behaviors with a custom dialer, to prevent behavior changes with custom dialers.
+		{targetStr: "unix:a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix", Authority: "", Endpoint: "a/b/c"}, wantWithDialer: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "unix:a/b/c"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix:/a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix", Authority: "", Endpoint: "/a/b/c"}, wantWithDialer: resolver.Target{Scheme: "", Authority: "", Endpoint: "unix:/a/b/c"}},
+		{targetStr: "unix:///a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "unix", Authority: "", Endpoint: "/a/b/c"}},
+
+		{targetStr: "passthrough:///unix:///a/b/c", want: resolver.Target{Scheme: "passthrough", Authority: "", Endpoint: "unix:///a/b/c"}},
 	} {
 		got := ParseTarget(test.targetStr, false)
 		if got != test.want {
diff --git a/internal/resolver/unix/unix.go b/internal/resolver/unix/unix.go
index d046e50613d0..8e78d47197c8 100644
--- a/internal/resolver/unix/unix.go
+++ b/internal/resolver/unix/unix.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 package unix
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal/transport/networktype"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/resolver"
 )
@@ -29,6 +31,9 @@ const scheme = "unix"
 type builder struct{}
 
 func (*builder) Build(target resolver.Target, cc resolver.ClientConn, _ resolver.BuildOptions) (resolver.Resolver, error) {
+	if target.Authority != "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid (non-empty) authority: %v", target.Authority)
+	}
 	cc.UpdateState(resolver.State{Addresses: []resolver.Address{networktype.Set(resolver.Address{Addr: target.Endpoint}, "unix")}})
 	return &nopResolver{}, nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/transport/http2_client.go b/internal/transport/http2_client.go
index 4778ed16252b..4c9f9740ec71 100644
--- a/internal/transport/http2_client.go
+++ b/internal/transport/http2_client.go
@@ -140,17 +140,26 @@ type http2Client struct {
 }
 
 func dial(ctx context.Context, fn func(context.Context, string) (net.Conn, error), addr resolver.Address, useProxy bool, grpcUA string) (net.Conn, error) {
+	address := addr.Addr
+	networkType, ok := networktype.Get(addr)
 	if fn != nil {
-		return fn(ctx, addr.Addr)
+		if networkType == "unix" {
+			// For backward compatibility, if the user dialed "unix:///path",
+			// the passthrough resolver would be used and the user's custom
+			// dialer would see "unix:///path". Since the unix resolver is used
+			// and the address is now "/path", prepend "unix://" so the user's
+			// custom dialer sees the same address.
+			return fn(ctx, "unix://"+address)
+		}
+		return fn(ctx, address)
 	}
-	networkType := "tcp"
-	if n, ok := networktype.Get(addr); ok {
-		networkType = n
+	if !ok {
+		networkType, address = parseDialTarget(address)
 	}
 	if networkType == "tcp" && useProxy {
-		return proxyDial(ctx, addr.Addr, grpcUA)
+		return proxyDial(ctx, address, grpcUA)
 	}
-	return (&net.Dialer{}).DialContext(ctx, networkType, addr.Addr)
+	return (&net.Dialer{}).DialContext(ctx, networkType, address)
 }
 
 func isTemporary(err error) bool {
diff --git a/internal/transport/http_util.go b/internal/transport/http_util.go
index 4d15afbf73f1..7e41d1183f93 100644
--- a/internal/transport/http_util.go
+++ b/internal/transport/http_util.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"math"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -598,3 +599,31 @@ func newFramer(conn net.Conn, writeBufferSize, readBufferSize int, maxHeaderList
 	f.fr.ReadMetaHeaders = hpack.NewDecoder(http2InitHeaderTableSize, nil)
 	return f
 }
+
+// parseDialTarget returns the network and address to pass to dialer.
+func parseDialTarget(target string) (string, string) {
+	net := "tcp"
+	m1 := strings.Index(target, ":")
+	m2 := strings.Index(target, ":/")
+	// handle unix:addr which will fail with url.Parse
+	if m1 >= 0 && m2 < 0 {
+		if n := target[0:m1]; n == "unix" {
+			return n, target[m1+1:]
+		}
+	}
+	if m2 >= 0 {
+		t, err := url.Parse(target)
+		if err != nil {
+			return net, target
+		}
+		scheme := t.Scheme
+		addr := t.Path
+		if scheme == "unix" {
+			if addr == "" {
+				addr = t.Host
+			}
+			return scheme, addr
+		}
+	}
+	return net, target
+}
diff --git a/internal/transport/http_util_test.go b/internal/transport/http_util_test.go
index 85a083f6c8a8..2205050acea0 100644
--- a/internal/transport/http_util_test.go
+++ b/internal/transport/http_util_test.go
@@ -250,3 +250,32 @@ func (s) TestDecodeHeaderH2ErrCode(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func (s) TestParseDialTarget(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, test := range []struct {
+		target, wantNet, wantAddr string
+	}{
+		{"unix:a", "unix", "a"},
+		{"unix:a/b/c", "unix", "a/b/c"},
+		{"unix:/a", "unix", "/a"},
+		{"unix:/a/b/c", "unix", "/a/b/c"},
+		{"unix://a", "unix", "a"},
+		{"unix://a/b/c", "unix", "/b/c"},
+		{"unix:///a", "unix", "/a"},
+		{"unix:///a/b/c", "unix", "/a/b/c"},
+		{"unix:etcd:0", "unix", "etcd:0"},
+		{"unix:///tmp/unix-3", "unix", "/tmp/unix-3"},
+		{"unix://domain", "unix", "domain"},
+		{"unix://etcd:0", "unix", "etcd:0"},
+		{"unix:///etcd:0", "unix", "/etcd:0"},
+		{"passthrough://unix://domain", "tcp", "passthrough://unix://domain"},
+		{"https://google.com:443", "tcp", "https://google.com:443"},
+		{"dns:///google.com", "tcp", "dns:///google.com"},
+		{"/unix/socket/address", "tcp", "/unix/socket/address"},
+	} {
+		gotNet, gotAddr := parseDialTarget(test.target)
+		if gotNet != test.wantNet || gotAddr != test.wantAddr {
+			t.Errorf("parseDialTarget(%q) = %s, %s want %s, %s", test.target, gotNet, gotAddr, test.wantNet, test.wantAddr)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/test/authority_test.go b/test/authority_test.go
index e8307fee225d..e6599b2fde04 100644
--- a/test/authority_test.go
+++ b/test/authority_test.go
@@ -80,35 +80,46 @@ func runUnixTest(t *testing.T, address, target, expectedAuthority string, dialer
 	}
 }
 
+type authorityTest struct {
+	name           string
+	address        string
+	target         string
+	authority      string
+	dialTargetWant string
+}
+
+var authorityTests = []authorityTest{
+	{
+		name:      "UnixRelative",
+		address:   "sock.sock",
+		target:    "unix:sock.sock",
+		authority: "localhost",
+	},
+	{
+		name:      "UnixAbsolute",
+		address:   "/tmp/sock.sock",
+		target:    "unix:/tmp/sock.sock",
+		authority: "localhost",
+	},
+	{
+		name:      "UnixAbsoluteAlternate",
+		address:   "/tmp/sock.sock",
+		target:    "unix:///tmp/sock.sock",
+		authority: "localhost",
+	},
+	{
+		name:           "UnixPassthrough",
+		address:        "/tmp/sock.sock",
+		target:         "passthrough:///unix:///tmp/sock.sock",
+		authority:      "unix:///tmp/sock.sock",
+		dialTargetWant: "unix:///tmp/sock.sock",
+	},
+}
+
 // TestUnix does end to end tests with the various supported unix target
-// formats, ensuring that the authority is set to localhost in every case.
+// formats, ensuring that the authority is set as expected.
 func (s) TestUnix(t *testing.T) {
-	tests := []struct {
-		name      string
-		address   string
-		target    string
-		authority string
-	}{
-		{
-			name:      "UnixRelative",
-			address:   "sock.sock",
-			target:    "unix:sock.sock",
-			authority: "localhost",
-		},
-		{
-			name:      "UnixAbsolute",
-			address:   "/tmp/sock.sock",
-			target:    "unix:/tmp/sock.sock",
-			authority: "localhost",
-		},
-		{
-			name:      "UnixAbsoluteAlternate",
-			address:   "/tmp/sock.sock",
-			target:    "unix:///tmp/sock.sock",
-			authority: "localhost",
-		},
-	}
-	for _, test := range tests {
+	for _, test := range authorityTests {
 		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			runUnixTest(t, test.address, test.target, test.authority, nil)
 		})
@@ -119,30 +130,14 @@ func (s) TestUnix(t *testing.T) {
 // formats, ensuring that the target sent to the dialer does NOT have the
 // "unix:" prefix stripped.
 func (s) TestUnixCustomDialer(t *testing.T) {
-	tests := []struct {
-		name      string
-		address   string
-		target    string
-		authority string
-	}{
-		{
-			name:      "UnixRelative",
-			address:   "sock.sock",
-			target:    "unix:sock.sock",
-			authority: "localhost",
-		},
-		{
-			name:      "UnixAbsolute",
-			address:   "/tmp/sock.sock",
-			target:    "unix:/tmp/sock.sock",
-			authority: "localhost",
-		},
-	}
-	for _, test := range tests {
-		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, test := range authorityTests {
+		t.Run(test.name+"WithDialer", func(t *testing.T) {
+			if test.dialTargetWant == "" {
+				test.dialTargetWant = test.target
+			}
 			dialer := func(ctx context.Context, address string) (net.Conn, error) {
-				if address != test.target {
-					return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected target %v in custom dialer, instead got %v", test.target, address)
+				if address != test.dialTargetWant {
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected target %v in custom dialer, instead got %v", test.dialTargetWant, address)
 				}
 				address = address[len("unix:"):]
 				return (&net.Dialer{}).DialContext(ctx, "unix", address)
@@ -152,6 +147,8 @@ func (s) TestUnixCustomDialer(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestColonPortAuthority does an end to end test with the target for grpc.Dial
+// being ":[port]". Ensures authority is "localhost:[port]".
 func (s) TestColonPortAuthority(t *testing.T) {
 	expectedAuthority := ""
 	var authorityMu sync.Mutex