diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/AddressSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/AddressSpec.scala
deleted file mode 100644
index 232e545532..0000000000
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/AddressSpec.scala
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Copyright (C) 2009-2016 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
- */
-package akka.actor
-
-import org.scalatest.{ WordSpec, ShouldMatchers }
-
-@org.junit.runner.RunWith(classOf[org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner])
-class AddressSpec extends WordSpec with ShouldMatchers {
-
-  "The Address factory methods" should {
-
-    "fail if ipv6 address is not wrapped in brackets" in {
-      intercept[IllegalArgumentException] {
-        Address("tcp", "system", "0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1", 2551)
-      }.getMessage should include("must be wrapped with []")
-    }
-
-    "not fail if ipv6 address is wrapped in brackets" in {
-      Address("tcp", "system", "[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]", 2551)
-
-    }
-
-    "not fail with an ipv4 address" in {
-      Address("tcp", "system", "192.168.0.1", 2551)
-    }
-
-    "not fail with a hostname address" in {
-      Address("tcp", "system", "example.com", 2551)
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Address.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Address.scala
index 94870a606f..955f127522 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Address.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Address.scala
@@ -75,11 +75,7 @@ object Address {
   /**
    * Constructs a new Address with the specified protocol, system name, host and port
    */
-  def apply(protocol: String, system: String, host: String, port: Int) = {
-    require(!host.contains(":") || host.startsWith("["), s"IPv6 address $host must be wrapped with [] to be safe")
-    new Address(protocol, system, Some(host), Some(port))
-  }
-
+  def apply(protocol: String, system: String, host: String, port: Int) = new Address(protocol, system, Some(host), Some(port))
 }
 
 private[akka] trait PathUtils {
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 66c8d408d1..4121c83527 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -360,7 +360,6 @@ akka {
 
       # The hostname or ip clients should connect to.
       # InetAddress.getLocalHost.getHostAddress is used if empty
-      # if using an IPv6 address wrap it in brackets, like so: [fe80::a65e:60ff:fee5:ba9f%en0]
       hostname = ""
 
       # Use this setting to bind a network interface to a different port
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/transport/netty/NettyTransport.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/transport/netty/NettyTransport.scala
index 775d43788d..2257c64c7e 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/transport/netty/NettyTransport.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/transport/netty/NettyTransport.scala
@@ -238,32 +238,16 @@ private[transport] object NettyTransport {
   val uniqueIdCounter = new AtomicInteger(0)
 
   def addressFromSocketAddress(addr: SocketAddress, schemeIdentifier: String, systemName: String,
-                               hostName: Option[String], port: Option[Int]): Option[Address] = {
-
-    addr match {
-      case sa: InetSocketAddress ⇒
-        Some(Address(
-          schemeIdentifier,
-          systemName,
-          ipv6SafeHostname(hostName.getOrElse(sa.getHostString)),
-          port.getOrElse(sa.getPort)))
-
-      case _ ⇒ None
-    }
+                               hostName: Option[String], port: Option[Int]): Option[Address] = addr match {
+    case sa: InetSocketAddress ⇒ Some(Address(schemeIdentifier, systemName,
+      hostName.getOrElse(sa.getAddress.getHostAddress), port.getOrElse(sa.getPort))) // perhaps use getHostString in jdk 1.7
+    case _ ⇒ None
   }
 
   // Need to do like this for binary compatibility reasons
   def addressFromSocketAddress(addr: SocketAddress, schemeIdentifier: String, systemName: String,
                                hostName: Option[String]): Option[Address] =
     addressFromSocketAddress(addr, schemeIdentifier, systemName, hostName, port = None)
-
-  /**
-   * Wraps an ipv6 address hostname in [] to avoid having it parsed as hostname + port.
-   */
-  private def ipv6SafeHostname(unsafeHostname: String): String =
-    if (unsafeHostname.contains(":") && !unsafeHostname.startsWith("[")) s"[$unsafeHostname]"
-    else unsafeHostname
-
 }
 
 // FIXME: Split into separate UDP and TCP classes
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/netty/NettyTransportSpec.scala b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/netty/NettyTransportSpec.scala
index 47791c0411..00cb0900b2 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/netty/NettyTransportSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/netty/NettyTransportSpec.scala
@@ -116,13 +116,6 @@ class NettyTransportSpec extends WordSpec with Matchers with BindBehaviour {
 
       Await.result(sys.terminate(), Duration.Inf)
     }
-
-    "wrap ipv6 addresses in brackets if missing" in {
-      val socketAddress = InetSocketAddress.createUnresolved("0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1", 2552)
-
-      val address = NettyTransport.addressFromSocketAddress(socketAddress, "tcp", "example", None, None)
-      address.flatMap(_.host) should ===(Some("[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]"))
-    }
   }
 }