diff --git a/cmd/buildctl/dialstdio.go b/cmd/buildctl/dialstdio.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9539f6f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/buildctl/dialstdio.go
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"io"
+	"net"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli"
+)
+
+var dialStdioCommand = cli.Command{
+	Name:   "dial-stdio",
+	Usage:  "Proxy the stdio stream to the daemon connection. Should not be invoked manually.",
+	Hidden: true,
+	Action: dialStdioAction,
+}
+
+func dialStdioAction(clicontext *cli.Context) error {
+	addr := clicontext.GlobalString("addr")
+	timeout := time.Duration(clicontext.GlobalInt("timeout")) * time.Second
+	conn, err := dialer(addr, timeout)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer conn.Close()
+
+	var connHalfCloser halfCloser
+	switch t := conn.(type) {
+	case halfCloser:
+		connHalfCloser = t
+	case halfReadWriteCloser:
+		connHalfCloser = &nopCloseReader{t}
+	default:
+		return errors.New("the raw stream connection does not implement halfCloser")
+	}
+
+	stdin2conn := make(chan error, 1)
+	conn2stdout := make(chan error, 1)
+	go func() {
+		stdin2conn <- copier(connHalfCloser, &halfReadCloserWrapper{os.Stdin}, "stdin to stream")
+	}()
+	go func() {
+		conn2stdout <- copier(&halfWriteCloserWrapper{os.Stdout}, connHalfCloser, "stream to stdout")
+	}()
+	select {
+	case err = <-stdin2conn:
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		// wait for stdout
+		err = <-conn2stdout
+	case err = <-conn2stdout:
+		// return immediately without waiting for stdin to be closed.
+		// (stdin is never closed when tty)
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+func dialer(address string, timeout time.Duration) (net.Conn, error) {
+	addrParts := strings.SplitN(address, "://", 2)
+	if len(addrParts) != 2 {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("invalid address %s", address)
+	}
+	if addrParts[0] != "unix" {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("invalid address %s (expected unix://, got %s://)", address, addrParts[0])
+	}
+	return net.DialTimeout(addrParts[0], addrParts[1], timeout)
+}
+
+func copier(to halfWriteCloser, from halfReadCloser, debugDescription string) error {
+	defer func() {
+		if err := from.CloseRead(); err != nil {
+			logrus.Errorf("error while CloseRead (%s): %v", debugDescription, err)
+		}
+		if err := to.CloseWrite(); err != nil {
+			logrus.Errorf("error while CloseWrite (%s): %v", debugDescription, err)
+		}
+	}()
+	if _, err := io.Copy(to, from); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrapf(err, "error while Copy (%s)", debugDescription)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+type halfReadCloser interface {
+	io.Reader
+	CloseRead() error
+}
+
+type halfWriteCloser interface {
+	io.Writer
+	CloseWrite() error
+}
+
+type halfCloser interface {
+	halfReadCloser
+	halfWriteCloser
+}
+
+type halfReadWriteCloser interface {
+	io.Reader
+	halfWriteCloser
+}
+
+type nopCloseReader struct {
+	halfReadWriteCloser
+}
+
+func (x *nopCloseReader) CloseRead() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+type halfReadCloserWrapper struct {
+	io.ReadCloser
+}
+
+func (x *halfReadCloserWrapper) CloseRead() error {
+	return x.Close()
+}
+
+type halfWriteCloserWrapper struct {
+	io.WriteCloser
+}
+
+func (x *halfWriteCloserWrapper) CloseWrite() error {
+	return x.Close()
+}
diff --git a/cmd/buildctl/main.go b/cmd/buildctl/main.go
index 07edc812..c7c8b384 100644
--- a/cmd/buildctl/main.go
+++ b/cmd/buildctl/main.go
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ func main() {
 		pruneCommand,
 		buildCommand,
 		debugCommand,
+		dialStdioCommand,
 	}
 
 	var debugEnabled bool