diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/AddressSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/AddressSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..232e545532
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/AddressSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/**
+ * 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 955f127522..94870a606f 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Address.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Address.scala
@@ -75,7 +75,11 @@ 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) = new Address(protocol, system, Some(host), Some(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))
+  }
+
 }
 
 private[akka] trait PathUtils {
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 4121c83527..66c8d408d1 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -360,6 +360,7 @@ 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 2257c64c7e..775d43788d 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
@@ -238,16 +238,32 @@ 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,
-      hostName.getOrElse(sa.getAddress.getHostAddress), port.getOrElse(sa.getPort))) // perhaps use getHostString in jdk 1.7
-    case _ ⇒ None
+                               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
+    }
   }
 
   // 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 00cb0900b2..47791c0411 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
@@ -116,6 +116,13 @@ 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]"))
+    }
   }
 }