diff --git a/homeassistant/components/graphite/__init__.py b/homeassistant/components/graphite/__init__.py
index ccb7044ad73..9405b576b4d 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/graphite/__init__.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/graphite/__init__.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from homeassistant.const import (
     CONF_HOST,
     CONF_PORT,
     CONF_PREFIX,
+    CONF_PROTOCOL,
     EVENT_HOMEASSISTANT_START,
     EVENT_HOMEASSISTANT_STOP,
     EVENT_STATE_CHANGED,
@@ -21,8 +22,11 @@ import homeassistant.helpers.config_validation as cv
 
 _LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+PROTOCOL_TCP = "tcp"
+PROTOCOL_UDP = "udp"
 DEFAULT_HOST = "localhost"
 DEFAULT_PORT = 2003
+DEFAULT_PROTOCOL = PROTOCOL_TCP
 DEFAULT_PREFIX = "ha"
 DOMAIN = "graphite"
 
@@ -32,6 +36,9 @@ CONFIG_SCHEMA = vol.Schema(
             {
                 vol.Optional(CONF_HOST, default=DEFAULT_HOST): cv.string,
                 vol.Optional(CONF_PORT, default=DEFAULT_PORT): cv.port,
+                vol.Optional(CONF_PROTOCOL, default=DEFAULT_PROTOCOL): vol.Any(
+                    PROTOCOL_TCP, PROTOCOL_UDP
+                ),
                 vol.Optional(CONF_PREFIX, default=DEFAULT_PREFIX): cv.string,
             }
         )
@@ -46,29 +53,34 @@ def setup(hass, config):
     host = conf.get(CONF_HOST)
     prefix = conf.get(CONF_PREFIX)
     port = conf.get(CONF_PORT)
+    protocol = conf.get(CONF_PROTOCOL)
 
-    sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
-    try:
-        sock.connect((host, port))
-        sock.shutdown(2)
-        _LOGGER.debug("Connection to Graphite possible")
-    except OSError:
-        _LOGGER.error("Not able to connect to Graphite")
-        return False
+    if protocol == PROTOCOL_TCP:
+        sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+        try:
+            sock.connect((host, port))
+            sock.shutdown(2)
+            _LOGGER.debug("Connection to Graphite possible")
+        except OSError:
+            _LOGGER.error("Not able to connect to Graphite")
+            return False
+    else:
+        _LOGGER.debug("No connection check for UDP possible")
 
-    GraphiteFeeder(hass, host, port, prefix)
+    GraphiteFeeder(hass, host, port, protocol, prefix)
     return True
 
 
 class GraphiteFeeder(threading.Thread):
     """Feed data to Graphite."""
 
-    def __init__(self, hass, host, port, prefix):
+    def __init__(self, hass, host, port, protocol, prefix):
         """Initialize the feeder."""
         super().__init__(daemon=True)
         self._hass = hass
         self._host = host
         self._port = port
+        self._protocol = protocol
         # rstrip any trailing dots in case they think they need it
         self._prefix = prefix.rstrip(".")
         self._queue = queue.Queue()
@@ -101,12 +113,16 @@ class GraphiteFeeder(threading.Thread):
 
     def _send_to_graphite(self, data):
         """Send data to Graphite."""
-        sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
-        sock.settimeout(10)
-        sock.connect((self._host, self._port))
-        sock.sendall(data.encode("ascii"))
-        sock.send(b"\n")
-        sock.close()
+        if self._protocol == PROTOCOL_TCP:
+            sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+            sock.settimeout(10)
+            sock.connect((self._host, self._port))
+            sock.sendall(data.encode("ascii"))
+            sock.send(b"\n")
+            sock.close()
+        else:
+            sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
+            sock.sendto(data.encode("ascii") + b"\n", (self._host, self._port))
 
     def _report_attributes(self, entity_id, new_state):
         """Report the attributes."""
diff --git a/tests/components/graphite/test_init.py b/tests/components/graphite/test_init.py
index 88be3723936..b7f5071813e 100644
--- a/tests/components/graphite/test_init.py
+++ b/tests/components/graphite/test_init.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class TestGraphite(unittest.TestCase):
     def setup_method(self, method):
         """Set up things to be run when tests are started."""
         self.hass = get_test_home_assistant()
-        self.gf = graphite.GraphiteFeeder(self.hass, "foo", 123, "ha")
+        self.gf = graphite.GraphiteFeeder(self.hass, "foo", 123, "tcp", "ha")
 
     def teardown_method(self, method):
         """Stop everything that was started."""
@@ -45,10 +45,23 @@ class TestGraphite(unittest.TestCase):
 
         assert setup_component(self.hass, graphite.DOMAIN, config)
         assert mock_gf.call_count == 1
-        assert mock_gf.call_args == mock.call(self.hass, "foo", 123, "me")
+        assert mock_gf.call_args == mock.call(self.hass, "foo", 123, "tcp", "me")
         assert mock_socket.call_count == 1
         assert mock_socket.call_args == mock.call(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
 
+    @patch("socket.socket")
+    @patch("homeassistant.components.graphite.GraphiteFeeder")
+    def test_full_udp_config(self, mock_gf, mock_socket):
+        """Test setup with full configuration and UDP protocol."""
+        config = {
+            "graphite": {"host": "foo", "port": 123, "protocol": "udp", "prefix": "me"}
+        }
+
+        assert setup_component(self.hass, graphite.DOMAIN, config)
+        assert mock_gf.call_count == 1
+        assert mock_gf.call_args == mock.call(self.hass, "foo", 123, "udp", "me")
+        assert mock_socket.call_count == 0
+
     @patch("socket.socket")
     @patch("homeassistant.components.graphite.GraphiteFeeder")
     def test_config_port(self, mock_gf, mock_socket):
@@ -63,7 +76,7 @@ class TestGraphite(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_subscribe(self):
         """Test the subscription."""
         fake_hass = mock.MagicMock()
-        gf = graphite.GraphiteFeeder(fake_hass, "foo", 123, "ha")
+        gf = graphite.GraphiteFeeder(fake_hass, "foo", 123, "tcp", "ha")
         fake_hass.bus.listen_once.has_calls(
             [
                 mock.call(EVENT_HOMEASSISTANT_START, gf.start_listen),