diff --git a/gnes/cli/parser.py b/gnes/cli/parser.py
index 20713339..503c517c 100644
--- a/gnes/cli/parser.py
+++ b/gnes/cli/parser.py
@@ -202,6 +202,8 @@ def set_service_parser(parser=None):
     parser.add_argument('--squeeze_pb', action=ActionNoYes, default=True,
                         help='sending bytes and ndarray separately apart from the protobuf message, '
                              'usually yields better network efficiency')
+    parser.add_argument('--ctrl_with_ipc', action='store_true', default=False,
+                        help='use ipc protocol for control socket')
     return parser
 
 
diff --git a/gnes/service/base.py b/gnes/service/base.py
index b71d3239..1e114dcb 100644
--- a/gnes/service/base.py
+++ b/gnes/service/base.py
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ def __init__(self, args):
         self.last_dump_time = time.perf_counter()
         self._model = None
         self.use_event_loop = True
-        self.ctrl_with_ipc = (os.name != 'nt')
+        self.ctrl_with_ipc = (os.name != 'nt') and self.args.ctrl_with_ipc
         if self.ctrl_with_ipc:
             self.ctrl_addr = get_random_ipc()
         else: