diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/local/LocalAddress.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/local/LocalAddress.java
index b17ac00755..f572e0a147 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/local/LocalAddress.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/local/LocalAddress.java
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@
 package org.jboss.netty.channel.local;
 
 import java.net.SocketAddress;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
+
+import org.jboss.netty.util.ConcurrentWeakHashMap;
 
 /**
  * @author <a href="mailto:andy.taylor@jboss.org">Andy Taylor</a>
@@ -30,19 +34,51 @@ import java.net.SocketAddress;
 public class LocalAddress extends SocketAddress implements Comparable<LocalAddress> {
     private static final long serialVersionUID = -3601961747680808645L;
 
-    private final String id;
+    private static final ConcurrentMap<String, LocalAddress> addresses =
+        new ConcurrentWeakHashMap<String, LocalAddress>();
 
-    public LocalAddress(String id) {
+    private static final AtomicLong nextEphemeralPort = new AtomicLong();
+
+    public static LocalAddress getInstance(String id) {
+        if (id == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("id");
+        }
+        LocalAddress a = addresses.get(id);
+        if (a == null) {
+            a = new LocalAddress(id);
+            LocalAddress oldA = addresses.putIfAbsent(id, a);
+            if (oldA != null) {
+                a = oldA;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return a;
+    }
+
+    public static LocalAddress newEphemeralInstance() {
+        return getInstance("ephemeral-" + nextEphemeralPort.incrementAndGet());
+    }
+
+    private final String id;
+    private final boolean ephemeral;
+
+    private LocalAddress(String id) {
         if (id == null) {
             throw new NullPointerException("id");
         }
         this.id = id;
+
+        ephemeral = id.startsWith("ephemeral-");
     }
 
     public String getId() {
         return id;
     }
 
+    public boolean isEphemeral() {
+        return ephemeral;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public int hashCode() {
         return id.hashCode();
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/example/local/LocalExample.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/example/local/LocalExample.java
index 4f0b2d26f2..6dbece2317 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/example/local/LocalExample.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/example/local/LocalExample.java
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public class LocalExample {
         LocalServerChannelFactory factory = LocalServerChannels.registerServerChannel("localChannel");
         ServerBootstrap bootstrap = new ServerBootstrap(factory);
         EchoHandler handler = new EchoHandler();
-        LocalAddress socketAddress = new LocalAddress("1");
+        LocalAddress socketAddress = LocalAddress.getInstance("1");
         bootstrap.getPipeline().addLast("handler", handler);
         bootstrap.bind(socketAddress);
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/example/servlet/LocalTransportRegister.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/example/servlet/LocalTransportRegister.java
index 05c70d6f1b..fa36c0cc12 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/example/servlet/LocalTransportRegister.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/example/servlet/LocalTransportRegister.java
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public class LocalTransportRegister {
         ServerBootstrap serverBootstrap = new ServerBootstrap(serverChannelFactory);
         EchoHandler handler = new EchoHandler();
         serverBootstrap.getPipeline().addLast("handler", handler);
-        Channel channel = serverBootstrap.bind(new LocalAddress("localAddress"));
+        Channel channel = serverBootstrap.bind(LocalAddress.getInstance("localAddress"));
     }
 
     public void stop() {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/servlet/NettySessionListener.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/servlet/NettySessionListener.java
index 3c99a5d453..b40df2ae8c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/servlet/NettySessionListener.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/servlet/NettySessionListener.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ public class NettySessionListener implements HttpSessionListener, ChannelHandler
                 return pipeline;
             }
         });
-        ChannelFuture future = bootstrap.connect(new LocalAddress("netty"));
+        ChannelFuture future = bootstrap.connect(LocalAddress.getInstance("netty"));
         future.awaitUninterruptibly();
         final Channel ch = future.getChannel();
         session.setAttribute(CHANNEL_PROP, ch);