diff --git a/mycli/config.py b/mycli/config.py
index 77475099..e0f2d1fc 100644
--- a/mycli/config.py
+++ b/mycli/config.py
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
+import io
 import shutil
+from copy import copy
 from io import BytesIO, TextIOWrapper
 import logging
 import os
 from os.path import exists
 import struct
 import sys
+from typing import Union
 
 from configobj import ConfigObj, ConfigObjError
 from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.ciphers import Cipher, algorithms, modes
@@ -58,13 +61,50 @@ def read_config_file(f, list_values=True):
     return config
 
 
+def get_included_configs(config_file: Union[str, io.TextIOWrapper]) -> list:
+    """Get a list of configuration files that are included into config_path
+    with !includedir directive.
+
+    "Normal" configs should be passed as file paths. The only exception
+    is .mylogin which is decoded into a stream. However, it never
+    contains include directives and so will be ignored by this
+    function.
+
+    """
+    if not isinstance(config_file, str) or not os.path.isfile(config_file):
+        return []
+    included_configs = []
+
+    try:
+        with open(config_file) as f:
+            include_directives = filter(
+                lambda s: s.startswith('!includedir'),
+                f
+            )
+            dirs = map(lambda s: s.strip().split()[-1], include_directives)
+            dirs = filter(os.path.isdir, dirs)
+            for dir in dirs:
+                for filename in os.listdir(dir):
+                    if filename.endswith('.cnf'):
+                        included_configs.append(os.path.join(dir, filename))
+    except (PermissionError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+        pass
+    return included_configs
+
+
 def read_config_files(files, list_values=True):
     """Read and merge a list of config files."""
 
     config = ConfigObj(list_values=list_values)
-
-    for _file in files:
+    _files = copy(files)
+    while _files:
+        _file = _files.pop(0)
         _config = read_config_file(_file, list_values=list_values)
+
+        # expand includes only if we were able to parse config
+        # (otherwise we'll just encounter the same errors again)
+        if config is not None:
+            _files = get_included_configs(_file) + _files
         if bool(_config) is True:
             config.merge(_config)
             config.filename = _config.filename
diff --git a/mycli/main.py b/mycli/main.py
index 34b5c4f6..d298f202 100755
--- a/mycli/main.py
+++ b/mycli/main.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import re
 import fileinput
 from collections import namedtuple
+from pwd import getpwuid
 from time import time
 from datetime import datetime
 from random import choice
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@
 from .lexer import MyCliLexer
 from .__init__ import __version__
 from .compat import WIN
-from .packages.filepaths import dir_path_exists
+from .packages.filepaths import dir_path_exists, guess_socket_location
 
 import itertools
 
@@ -317,7 +318,7 @@ def read_my_cnf_files(self, files, keys):
         """
         cnf = read_config_files(files, list_values=False)
 
-        sections = ['client']
+        sections = ['client', 'mysqld']
         if self.login_path and self.login_path != 'client':
             sections.append(self.login_path)
 
@@ -382,10 +383,11 @@ def connect(self, database='', user='', passwd='', host='', port='',
         # Fall back to config values only if user did not specify a value.
 
         database = database or cnf['database']
-        if port or host:
+        # Socket interface not supported for SSH connections
+        if port or host or ssh_host or ssh_port:
             socket = ''
         else:
-            socket = socket or cnf['socket']
+            socket = socket or cnf['socket'] or guess_socket_location()
         user = user or cnf['user'] or os.getenv('USER')
         host = host or cnf['host']
         port = port or cnf['port']
@@ -430,11 +432,11 @@ def _connect():
                     raise e
 
         try:
-            if (socket is host is port is None) and not WIN:
-                # Try a sensible default socket first (simplifies auth)
-                # If we get a connection error, try tcp/ip localhost
+            if not WIN and socket:
+                socket_owner = getpwuid(os.stat(socket).st_uid).pw_name
+                self.echo(
+                    f"Connecting to socket {socket}, owned by user {socket_owner}")
                 try:
-                    socket = '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock'
                     _connect()
                 except OperationalError as e:
                     # These are "Can't open socket" and 2x "Can't connect"
diff --git a/mycli/packages/filepaths.py b/mycli/packages/filepaths.py
index ac58851d..79fe26dc 100644
--- a/mycli/packages/filepaths.py
+++ b/mycli/packages/filepaths.py
@@ -1,10 +1,20 @@
 import os
+import platform
+
+
+if os.name == "posix":
+    if platform.system() == "Darwin":
+        DEFAULT_SOCKET_DIRS = ("/tmp",)
+    else:
+        DEFAULT_SOCKET_DIRS = ("/var/run", "/var/lib")
+else:
+    DEFAULT_SOCKET_DIRS = ()
 
 
 def list_path(root_dir):
     """List directory if exists.
 
-    :param dir: str
+    :param root_dir: str
     :return: list
 
     """
@@ -81,3 +91,16 @@ def dir_path_exists(path):
 
     """
     return os.path.exists(os.path.dirname(path))
+
+
+def guess_socket_location():
+    """Try to guess the location of the default mysql socket file."""
+    socket_dirs = filter(os.path.exists, DEFAULT_SOCKET_DIRS)
+    for directory in socket_dirs:
+        for r, dirs, files in os.walk(directory, topdown=True):
+            for filename in files:
+                name, ext = os.path.splitext(filename)
+                if name.startswith("mysql") and ext in ('.socket', '.sock'):
+                    return os.path.join(r, filename)
+            dirs[:] = [d for d in dirs if d.startswith("mysql")]
+    return None
diff --git a/mycli/sqlexecute.py b/mycli/sqlexecute.py
index 82b9f000..035d98d1 100644
--- a/mycli/sqlexecute.py
+++ b/mycli/sqlexecute.py
@@ -191,7 +191,6 @@ def run(self, statement):
                     if not cur.nextset() or (not cur.rowcount and cur.description is None):
                         break
 
-
     def get_result(self, cursor):
         """Get the current result's data from the cursor."""
         title = headers = None