diff --git a/AnyEvent-I3/lib/AnyEvent/I3.pm b/AnyEvent-I3/lib/AnyEvent/I3.pm
index c7735c51c..2d749d9e5 100644
--- a/AnyEvent-I3/lib/AnyEvent/I3.pm
+++ b/AnyEvent-I3/lib/AnyEvent/I3.pm
@@ -156,7 +156,9 @@ instance on the current DISPLAY which is almost always what you want.
 sub new {
     my ($class, $path) = @_;
 
-    $path = _call_i3('--get-socketpath') unless $path;
+    # We have I3SOCK now
+    $path ||= $ENV{I3SOCK};
+    $path ||= _call_i3('--get-socketpath');
 
     # Check if we need to resolve ~
     if ($path =~ /~/) {
@@ -165,6 +167,10 @@ sub new {
         $path =~ s/~/$home/g;
     }
 
+    if(!-S $path) {
+        die "$path is not a socket", $/;
+    }
+
     bless { path => $path } => $class;
 }