The gene has been associated with behavioral phenotypes of alcohol use disorder (AUD) in recent human genome wide association studies. To further assess the role of this gene in ethanol-related traits, we tested knockout (KO) mice for ethanol conditioned place preference (CPP), locomotor activity, and ethanol-induced anxiolysis. Male homozygous KO mice (HOM) showed greater preference for the ethanol-paired context compared to wild type littermates (WT) and heterozygous KO mice (HET), while female mice showed no genotypic difference. HOM of both sexes exhibited greater novelty-induced hyperactivity in the CPP apparatus than HET and WT mice in the first two minutes. In a separate experiment, HOM mice showed enhanced locomotor activity following a 1.5 g/kg ethanol injection; however, they also displayed greater locomotor activity during habituation, suggesting basal locomotor differences. Following 1.5 and 2 g/kg injections, HOM mice exhibited EtOH-induced anxiolysis in the first 5 minutes, while the HET and WT mice did not. Lastly, HOM mice displayed a significant sedative response compared to WT animals following a 2 g/kg injection of ethanol. Ultimately, these findings validate a role for in modulating ethanol's rewarding, anxiolytic, and sedative effects in a sex-dependent manner.