diff --git a/Doc/library/socket.rst b/Doc/library/socket.rst
--- a/Doc/library/socket.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/socket.rst
@@ -325,6 +325,24 @@
    .. versionchanged:: 3.2
       support for the :keyword:`with` statement was added.
 
+.. function:: create_server_sock(address[, reuse_addr[, queue_size]])
+
+   Convenience function which creates a TCP server bound to *address* (a 2-tuple
+   ``(host, port)``) and return the socket object. Internally it takes care of
+   choosing the right address family (IPv4 or IPv6) depending on the host
+   specified in *address*.  The returned socket can then be used to accept()
+   new connections as in:
+
+   >>> server = socket.create_server_sock(('localhost', 8000))
+   >>> while True:
+   ...     sock, addr = server.accept()
+   ...     # handle new sock connection
+
+   *reuse_addr* defaults to True on POSIX and tells the kernel to reuse a local
+   socket in ``TIME_WAIT`` state.  *queue_size* is  the maximum number of queued
+   connections passed to :meth:`socket.listen`.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.4
 
 .. function:: getaddrinfo(host, port, family=0, type=0, proto=0, flags=0)
 
@@ -1427,4 +1445,3 @@
    details of socket semantics.  For Unix, refer to the manual pages; for Windows,
    see the WinSock (or Winsock 2) specification.  For IPv6-ready APIs, readers may
    want to refer to :rfc:`3493` titled Basic Socket Interface Extensions for IPv6.
-
diff --git a/Lib/socket.py b/Lib/socket.py
--- a/Lib/socket.py
+++ b/Lib/socket.py
@@ -435,3 +435,44 @@
         raise err
     else:
         raise error("getaddrinfo returns an empty list")
+
+def create_server_sock(address,
+                       reuse_addr=os.name == 'posix' and sys.platform != 'cygwin',
+                       queue_size=5):
+    """Convenience function which creates a TCP server bound to
+    *address* and return the socket object.
+    Internally it takes care of choosing the right address family
+    (IPv4 or IPv6) depending on the host specified in *address*.
+    The returned socket can then be used to accept() new connections
+    as in:
+
+    >>> server = create_server_sock(('localhost', 8000))
+    >>> while True:
+    ...     sock, addr = server.accept()
+    ...     # handle new sock connection
+    """
+    host, port = address
+    if host == "":
+        # http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-ideas/2013-March/019937.html
+        host = None
+    err = None
+    info = getaddrinfo(host, port, AF_UNSPEC, SOCK_STREAM, 0, AI_PASSIVE)
+    for res in getaddrinfo(host, port, 0, SOCK_STREAM):
+        af, socktype, proto, canonname, sa = res
+        sock = None
+        try:
+            sock = socket(af, socktype, proto)
+            if reuse_addr:
+                sock.setsockopt(SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
+            sock.bind(sa)
+            sock.listen(queue_size)
+            return sock
+        except error as _:
+            err = _
+            if sock is not None:
+                sock.close()
+
+    if err is not None:
+        raise err
+    else:
+        raise error("getaddrinfo returns an empty list")
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_socket.py b/Lib/test/test_socket.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_socket.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_socket.py
@@ -4249,6 +4249,14 @@
             with self.assertRaises(socket.timeout):
                 socket.create_connection((HOST, 1234))
 
+    def test_create_server_sock(self):
+        port = support.find_unused_port()
+        with socket.create_server_sock(('localhost', port)) as sock:
+            self.assertEqual(sock.getsockname()[1], port)
+            self.assertEqual(sock.type, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+            self.assertIn(sock.family, (socket.AF_INET,
+                                        getattr(socket, 'AF_INET6', 0)))
+
 
 @unittest.skipUnless(thread, 'Threading required for this test.')
 class NetworkConnectionAttributesTest(SocketTCPTest, ThreadableTest):