diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index bd9f4256a7..53c8d0940a 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -2515,7 +2515,7 @@ virDomainChrDefParseTargetXML(virCapsPtr caps,
                 goto error;
             }
 
-            if (virSocketParseAddr(addrStr, def->target.addr, 0) < 0) {
+            if (virSocketParseAddr(addrStr, def->target.addr, AF_UNSPEC) < 0) {
                 virDomainReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
                                      _("%s is not a valid address"),
                                      addrStr);
diff --git a/src/conf/network_conf.c b/src/conf/network_conf.c
index ddef7909d6..f209dad7ab 100644
--- a/src/conf/network_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/network_conf.c
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ virNetworkDHCPRangeDefParseXML(virNetworkDefPtr def,
                 continue;
             }
 
-            if (virSocketParseAddr(start, &saddr, 0) < 0) {
+            if (virSocketParseAddr(start, &saddr, AF_UNSPEC) < 0) {
                 virNetworkReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
                                       _("cannot parse dhcp start address '%s'"),
                                       start);
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ virNetworkDHCPRangeDefParseXML(virNetworkDefPtr def,
                 cur = cur->next;
                 continue;
             }
-            if (virSocketParseAddr(end, &eaddr, 0) < 0) {
+            if (virSocketParseAddr(end, &eaddr, AF_UNSPEC) < 0) {
                 virNetworkReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
                                       _("cannot parse dhcp end address '%s'"),
                                       end);
diff --git a/src/network/bridge_driver.c b/src/network/bridge_driver.c
index 6323fa5be0..ac91c576ef 100644
--- a/src/network/bridge_driver.c
+++ b/src/network/bridge_driver.c
@@ -1046,14 +1046,14 @@ static int networkCheckRouteCollision(virNetworkObjPtr network)
     if (!network->def->ipAddress || !network->def->netmask)
         return 0;
 
-    if (virSocketParseAddr(network->def->ipAddress, &inaddress, 0) < 0) {
+    if (virSocketParseAddr(network->def->ipAddress, &inaddress, AF_UNSPEC) < 0) {
         networkReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
                            _("cannot parse IP address '%s'"),
                            network->def->ipAddress);
         goto error;
     }
 
-    if (virSocketParseAddr(network->def->netmask, &innetmask, 0) < 0) {
+    if (virSocketParseAddr(network->def->netmask, &innetmask, AF_UNSPEC) < 0) {
         networkReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
                            _("cannot parse netmask '%s'"),
                            network->def->netmask);
diff --git a/src/util/network.c b/src/util/network.c
index b8107f7ccf..4cb6bfeceb 100644
--- a/src/util/network.c
+++ b/src/util/network.c
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ static int getIPv6Addr(virSocketAddrPtr addr, virIPv6AddrPtr tab) {
  * virSocketParseAddr:
  * @val: a numeric network address IPv4 or IPv6
  * @addr: where to store the return value, optional.
- * @hint: optional hint to pass down to getaddrinfo
+ * @family: address family to pass down to getaddrinfo
  *
  * Mostly a wrapper for getaddrinfo() extracting the address storage
  * from the numeric string like 1.2.3.4 or 2001:db8:85a3:0:0:8a2e:370:7334
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ static int getIPv6Addr(virSocketAddrPtr addr, virIPv6AddrPtr tab) {
  * Returns the length of the network address or -1 in case of error.
  */
 int
-virSocketParseAddr(const char *val, virSocketAddrPtr addr, int hint) {
+virSocketParseAddr(const char *val, virSocketAddrPtr addr, int family) {
     int len;
     struct addrinfo hints;
     struct addrinfo *res = NULL;
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ virSocketParseAddr(const char *val, virSocketAddrPtr addr, int hint) {
         return(-1);
 
     memset(&hints, 0, sizeof(hints));
-    hints.ai_flags = AI_NUMERICHOST | hint;
+    hints.ai_family = family;
+    hints.ai_flags = AI_NUMERICHOST;
     if ((getaddrinfo(val, NULL, &hints, &res) != 0) || (res ==  NULL)) {
         return(-1);
     }