diff --git a/common/tftpsubs.c b/common/tftpsubs.c
index 45f4907..1c91e89 100644
--- a/common/tftpsubs.c
+++ b/common/tftpsubs.c
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ set_sock_addr(char *host,union sock_addr  *s, char **name)
     memset(&hints, 0, sizeof(hints));
     hints.ai_family = s->sa.sa_family;
     hints.ai_flags = AI_CANONNAME;
-    err = getaddrinfo(host, NULL, &hints, &addrResult);
+    err = getaddrinfo(strip_address(host), NULL, &hints, &addrResult);
     if (err) {
         printf("Error : %s\n", gai_strerror(err));
         printf("%s: unknown host\n", host);
@@ -329,3 +329,57 @@ set_sock_addr(char *host,union sock_addr  *s, char **name)
     freeaddrinfo(addrResult);
     return 0;
 }
+
+#ifdef HAVE_IPV6
+int is_numeric_ipv6(char *addr)
+{
+    /* A numeric IPv6 address consist at least of 2 ':' and
+     * it may have sequences of hex-digits and maybe contain
+     * a '.' from a IPv4 mapped address and maybe is enclosed in []
+     * we do not check here, if it is a valid IPv6 address
+     * only if is something like a numeric IPv6 address or something else
+     */
+    size_t l;
+    char *p, s = 0;
+
+    if (!addr)
+        return 0;
+    p = strrchr(addr, ']');
+    if (p) {
+        s = *p;
+        *p = 0;
+    }
+    l = strlen(addr);
+    if (p)
+        *p = s;
+    if (l<2)
+        return 0;
+    if (l != strspn(addr, "0123456789ABCDEFabcdef:.["))
+        return 0;
+    p = strchr(addr, ':');
+    if (p) {
+        p++;
+        p = strchr(addr, ':');
+        if (p)
+            return 1;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
+/* strip [] from numeric IPv6 addreses */
+
+char *strip_address(char *addr)
+{
+    char *p;
+
+    if (is_numeric_ipv6(addr) && (*addr == '[')) {
+        p = addr + strlen(addr);
+        p--;
+        if (*p == ']') {
+            *p = 0;
+            addr++;
+        }
+    }
+    return addr;
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/common/tftpsubs.h b/common/tftpsubs.h
index 20cf47e..887a4ab 100644
--- a/common/tftpsubs.h
+++ b/common/tftpsubs.h
@@ -73,6 +73,18 @@ union sock_addr {
     (void *)&((union sock_addr*)sock)->si.sin_addr
 #endif
 
+#ifdef HAVE_IPV6
+int is_numeric_ipv6(char *);
+char *strip_address(char *);
+#else
+#define is_numeric_ipv6(a)      0
+
+static inline char *strip_address(char *addr)
+{
+    return addr;
+}
+#endif
+
 static inline int sa_set_port(union sock_addr *s, u_short port)
 {
        switch (s->sa.sa_family) {
diff --git a/tftpd/tftpd.8.in b/tftpd/tftpd.8.in
index 01007ea..049b0a6 100644
--- a/tftpd/tftpd.8.in
+++ b/tftpd/tftpd.8.in
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ option.  The default is to listen to the
 port specified in
 .I /etc/services
 on all local addresses.
+
+.B Please note:
+Numeric IPv6 adresses must be enclosed in square brackets
+to avoid ambiguity with the optional port information.
 .TP
 .B \-c
 Allow new files to be created.  By default,
diff --git a/tftpd/tftpd.c b/tftpd/tftpd.c
index 8321771..e663239 100644
--- a/tftpd/tftpd.c
+++ b/tftpd/tftpd.c
@@ -256,6 +256,28 @@ static int recv_time(int s, void *rbuf, int len, unsigned int flags,
     }
 }
 
+static int split_port(char **ap, char **pp)
+{
+    char *a, *p;
+
+    a = *ap;
+    if (is_numeric_ipv6(a)) {
+        if (*a++ != '[')
+            return 1;
+        *ap = a;
+        p = strrchr(a, ']');
+        if (!p)
+            return 1;
+        *p++ = 0;
+        a = p;
+    }
+    p = strrchr(a, ':');
+    if (p)
+        *p++ = 0;
+    *pp = p;
+    return 0;
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     struct tftphdr *tp;
@@ -482,16 +504,19 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         }
 #endif
         if (address) {
-            char *portptr, *eportptr;
+            char *portptr = NULL, *eportptr;
             int err;
             struct servent *servent;
             unsigned long port;
 
             address = tfstrdup(address);
-            portptr = strrchr(address, ':');
-            if (portptr)
-                *portptr++ = '\0';
-            else
+            err = split_port(&address, &portptr);
+            if (err) {
+                syslog(LOG_ERR,
+                       "Numeric IPv6 addresses need to be enclosed in []");
+                exit(EX_USAGE);
+            }
+            if (!portptr)
                 portptr = (char *)"tftp";
             if (*address) {
                 if (fd4 >= 0) {
@@ -507,6 +532,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
                 }
 #ifdef HAVE_IPV6
                 if (fd6 >= 0) {
+                    bindaddr6.sin6_family = AF_INET6;
                     err = set_sock_addr(address,
                                         (union sock_addr *)&bindaddr6, NULL);
                     if (err) {