diff --git a/cli-plugins/socket/socket.go b/cli-plugins/socket/socket.go
index 67ba11562e38..f46cf3ce6d1d 100644
--- a/cli-plugins/socket/socket.go
+++ b/cli-plugins/socket/socket.go
@@ -13,18 +13,22 @@ import (
 // executed the socket name it should listen on to coordinate with the host CLI.
 const EnvKey = "DOCKER_CLI_PLUGIN_SOCKET"
 
-// SetupConn sets up a Unix socket listener, establishes a goroutine to handle connections
-// and update the conn pointer, and returns the listener for the socket (which the caller
-// is responsible for closing when it's no longer needed).
-func SetupConn(conn **net.UnixConn) (*net.UnixListener, error) {
+// SetupConn sets up a Unix socket listener, establishes a goroutine to handle connections.
+// A listener is returned, along with a connection channel that will receive the established
+// connection. The channel *may* return a nil connection and should be checked once received.
+// The caller is responsible for closing the listener when it's no longer needed.
+func SetupConn() (*net.UnixListener, <-chan *net.UnixConn, error) {
 	listener, err := listen("docker_cli_" + randomID())
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 
-	accept(listener, conn)
+	// accept starts a background goroutine
+	// to accept a new connection
+	// once accepted, the connChan will be updated.
+	connChan := accept(listener)
 
-	return listener, nil
+	return listener, connChan, nil
 }
 
 func randomID() string {
@@ -35,16 +39,25 @@ func randomID() string {
 	return hex.EncodeToString(b)
 }
 
-func accept(listener *net.UnixListener, conn **net.UnixConn) {
+// accept creates a new Unix socket connection
+// and sends it to the *net.UnixConn channel
+func accept(listener *net.UnixListener) <-chan *net.UnixConn {
+	connChan := make(chan *net.UnixConn, 1)
+
 	go func() {
-		for {
-			// ignore error here, if we failed to accept a connection,
-			// conn is nil and we fallback to previous behavior
-			*conn, _ = listener.AcceptUnix()
-			// perform any platform-specific actions on accept (e.g. unlink non-abstract sockets)
-			onAccept(*conn, listener)
-		}
+		// close the channel to signal we won't accept any more connections
+		defer close(connChan)
+		// this is a blocking call and will wait
+		// until a new connection is accepted
+		// or until the timout is reached
+		conn, _ := listener.AcceptUnix()
+
+		// perform any platform-specific actions on accept (e.g. unlink non-abstract sockets)
+		onAccept(listener)
+		connChan <- conn
 	}()
+
+	return connChan
 }
 
 // ConnectAndWait connects to the socket passed via well-known env var,
diff --git a/cli-plugins/socket/socket_darwin.go b/cli-plugins/socket/socket_darwin.go
index 17ab6aa69e6e..2531a9c8044a 100644
--- a/cli-plugins/socket/socket_darwin.go
+++ b/cli-plugins/socket/socket_darwin.go
@@ -14,6 +14,6 @@ func listen(socketname string) (*net.UnixListener, error) {
 	})
 }
 
-func onAccept(conn *net.UnixConn, listener *net.UnixListener) {
+func onAccept(listener *net.UnixListener) {
 	syscall.Unlink(listener.Addr().String())
 }
diff --git a/cli-plugins/socket/socket_nodarwin.go b/cli-plugins/socket/socket_nodarwin.go
index aa6065ecb446..ed5d4cbcc6f0 100644
--- a/cli-plugins/socket/socket_nodarwin.go
+++ b/cli-plugins/socket/socket_nodarwin.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ func listen(socketname string) (*net.UnixListener, error) {
 	})
 }
 
-func onAccept(conn *net.UnixConn, listener *net.UnixListener) {
+func onAccept(listener *net.UnixListener) {
 	// do nothing
 	// while on darwin and OpenBSD we would unlink here;
 	// on non-darwin the socket is abstract and not present on the filesystem
diff --git a/cli-plugins/socket/socket_openbsd.go b/cli-plugins/socket/socket_openbsd.go
index 17ab6aa69e6e..2531a9c8044a 100644
--- a/cli-plugins/socket/socket_openbsd.go
+++ b/cli-plugins/socket/socket_openbsd.go
@@ -14,6 +14,6 @@ func listen(socketname string) (*net.UnixListener, error) {
 	})
 }
 
-func onAccept(conn *net.UnixConn, listener *net.UnixListener) {
+func onAccept(listener *net.UnixListener) {
 	syscall.Unlink(listener.Addr().String())
 }
diff --git a/cli-plugins/socket/socket_test.go b/cli-plugins/socket/socket_test.go
index 409eb689485c..d9947a7ab881 100644
--- a/cli-plugins/socket/socket_test.go
+++ b/cli-plugins/socket/socket_test.go
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestSetupConn(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("updates conn when connected", func(t *testing.T) {
-		var conn *net.UnixConn
-		listener, err := SetupConn(&conn)
+		listener, conn, err := SetupConn()
 		assert.NilError(t, err)
 		assert.Check(t, listener != nil, "returned nil listener but no error")
 		addr, err := net.ResolveUnixAddr("unix", listener.Addr().String())
@@ -25,29 +24,11 @@ func TestSetupConn(t *testing.T) {
 		_, err = net.DialUnix("unix", nil, addr)
 		assert.NilError(t, err, "failed to dial returned listener")
 
-		pollConnNotNil(t, &conn)
-	})
-
-	t.Run("allows reconnects", func(t *testing.T) {
-		var conn *net.UnixConn
-		listener, err := SetupConn(&conn)
-		assert.NilError(t, err)
-		assert.Check(t, listener != nil, "returned nil listener but no error")
-		addr, err := net.ResolveUnixAddr("unix", listener.Addr().String())
-		assert.NilError(t, err, "failed to resolve listener address")
-
-		otherConn, err := net.DialUnix("unix", nil, addr)
-		assert.NilError(t, err, "failed to dial returned listener")
-
-		otherConn.Close()
-
-		_, err = net.DialUnix("unix", nil, addr)
-		assert.NilError(t, err, "failed to redial listener")
+		pollConnNotNil(t, conn)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("does not leak sockets to local directory", func(t *testing.T) {
-		var conn *net.UnixConn
-		listener, err := SetupConn(&conn)
+		listener, _, err := SetupConn()
 		assert.NilError(t, err)
 		assert.Check(t, listener != nil, "returned nil listener but no error")
 		checkDirNoPluginSocket(t)
@@ -78,8 +59,7 @@ func checkDirNoPluginSocket(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestConnectAndWait(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("calls cancel func on EOF", func(t *testing.T) {
-		var conn *net.UnixConn
-		listener, err := SetupConn(&conn)
+		listener, connChan, err := SetupConn()
 		assert.NilError(t, err, "failed to setup listener")
 
 		done := make(chan struct{})
@@ -87,8 +67,9 @@ func TestConnectAndWait(t *testing.T) {
 		cancelFunc := func() {
 			done <- struct{}{}
 		}
+
 		ConnectAndWait(cancelFunc)
-		pollConnNotNil(t, &conn)
+		conn := pollConnNotNil(t, connChan)
 		conn.Close()
 
 		select {
@@ -101,8 +82,7 @@ func TestConnectAndWait(t *testing.T) {
 	// TODO: this test cannot be executed with `t.Parallel()`, due to
 	// relying on goroutine numbers to ensure correct behaviour
 	t.Run("connect goroutine exits after EOF", func(t *testing.T) {
-		var conn *net.UnixConn
-		listener, err := SetupConn(&conn)
+		listener, connChan, err := SetupConn()
 		assert.NilError(t, err, "failed to setup listener")
 		t.Setenv(EnvKey, listener.Addr().String())
 		numGoroutines := runtime.NumGoroutine()
@@ -110,8 +90,9 @@ func TestConnectAndWait(t *testing.T) {
 		ConnectAndWait(func() {})
 		assert.Equal(t, runtime.NumGoroutine(), numGoroutines+1)
 
-		pollConnNotNil(t, &conn)
+		conn := pollConnNotNil(t, connChan)
 		conn.Close()
+
 		poll.WaitOn(t, func(t poll.LogT) poll.Result {
 			if runtime.NumGoroutine() > numGoroutines+1 {
 				return poll.Continue("waiting for connect goroutine to exit")
@@ -121,13 +102,17 @@ func TestConnectAndWait(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
-func pollConnNotNil(t *testing.T, conn **net.UnixConn) {
+func pollConnNotNil(t *testing.T, conn <-chan *net.UnixConn) *net.UnixConn {
 	t.Helper()
 
-	poll.WaitOn(t, func(t poll.LogT) poll.Result {
-		if *conn == nil {
-			return poll.Continue("waiting for conn to not be nil")
+	select {
+	case c := <-conn:
+		if c == nil {
+			t.Fatal("conn is nil")
 		}
-		return poll.Success()
-	}, poll.WithDelay(1*time.Millisecond), poll.WithTimeout(10*time.Millisecond))
+		return c
+	case <-time.After(10 * time.Millisecond):
+		t.Fatal("timeout waiting for conn to be set")
+	}
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/docker/docker.go b/cmd/docker/docker.go
index cfc53a6fa170..addf674aa2c1 100644
--- a/cmd/docker/docker.go
+++ b/cmd/docker/docker.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"net"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"os/signal"
@@ -222,8 +221,7 @@ func tryPluginRun(dockerCli command.Cli, cmd *cobra.Command, subcommand string,
 	}
 
 	// Establish the plugin socket, adding it to the environment under a well-known key if successful.
-	var conn *net.UnixConn
-	listener, err := socket.SetupConn(&conn)
+	listener, connChan, err := socket.SetupConn()
 	if err == nil {
 		envs = append(envs, socket.EnvKey+"="+listener.Addr().String())
 		defer listener.Close()
@@ -247,11 +245,17 @@ func tryPluginRun(dockerCli command.Cli, cmd *cobra.Command, subcommand string,
 				// receive signals due to sharing a pgid with the parent CLI
 				continue
 			}
-			if conn != nil {
-				if err := conn.Close(); err != nil {
-					_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(dockerCli.Err(), "failed to signal plugin to close: %v\n", err)
+			select {
+			// connChan will close itself once we receive the connection
+			// thus further loops will not block on connChan
+			case c := <-connChan:
+				if c != nil {
+					if err := c.Close(); err != nil {
+						_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(dockerCli.Err(), "failed to signal plugin to close: %v\n", err)
+					}
 				}
-				conn = nil
+			default:
+				// fallthrough and continue with the loop.
 			}
 			retries++
 			if retries >= exitLimit {