diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2d5d1238a0..d1ae32e26b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -211,6 +211,8 @@ limits total time for client to reconnect. Value is provided in milliseconds and
 * `max_attempts` defaults to `null`. By default client will try reconnecting until connected. Setting `max_attempts`
 limits total amount of reconnects.
 * `auth_pass` defaults to `null`. By default client will try connecting without auth. If set, client will run redis auth command on connect.
+* `family` defaults to `IPv4`. The client connects in IPv4 if not specified or if the DNS resolution returns an IPv4 address. 
+You can force an IPv6 if you set the family to 'IPv6'. See nodejs net or dns modules how to use the family type. 
 
 ```js
     var redis = require("redis"),
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 67cbb5ff37..9674e7a528 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1214,16 +1214,27 @@ RedisClient.prototype.eval = RedisClient.prototype.EVAL = function () {
 
 
 exports.createClient = function (port_arg, host_arg, options) {
-    var port = port_arg || default_port,
-        host = host_arg || default_host,
-        redis_client, net_client;
 
-    net_client = net.createConnection(port, host);
+	var cnxFamily;
+	
+	if (options && options.family) {
+		cnxFamily = (options.family == 'IPv6' ? 6 : 4);
+	}
+	
+    var cnxOptions = {
+        'port' : port_arg || default_port,
+        'host' : host_arg || default_host,
+        'family' : cnxFamily || '4'
+    };
+
+    var  redis_client, net_client;
+
+    net_client = net.createConnection(cnxOptions);
 
     redis_client = new RedisClient(net_client, options);
 
-    redis_client.port = port;
-    redis_client.host = host;
+    redis_client.port = cnxOptions.port;
+    redis_client.host = cnxOptions.host;
 
     return redis_client;
 };
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index 44e97cde54..b9d915534b 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -115,6 +115,51 @@ next = function next(name) {
 
 // Tests are run in the order they are defined, so FLUSHDB should always be first.
 
+tests.IPV4 = function () {
+	var ipv4Client = redis.createClient( PORT, "127.0.0.1", { "family" : "IPv4" } );
+	
+	ipv4Client.once("ready", function start_tests() {
+		console.log("Connected to " + ipv4Client.host + ":" + ipv4Client.port + ", Redis server version " + ipv4Client.server_info.redis_version + "\n");
+		console.log("Using reply parser " + ipv4Client.reply_parser.name);
+
+		ipv4Client.quit();
+		run_next_test();
+	});
+
+	ipv4Client.on('end', function () {
+		
+	});
+
+	// Exit immediately on connection failure, which triggers "exit", below, which fails the test
+	ipv4Client.on("error", function (err) {
+		console.error("client: " + err.stack);
+		process.exit();
+	});	
+}
+
+tests.IPV6 = function () {
+	var ipv6Client = redis.createClient( PORT, "::1", { "family" : "IPv6" } );
+	
+	ipv6Client.once("ready", function start_tests() {
+		console.log("Connected to " + ipv6Client.host + ":" + ipv6Client.port + ", Redis server version " + ipv6Client.server_info.redis_version + "\n");
+		console.log("Using reply parser " + ipv6Client.reply_parser.name);
+
+		ipv6Client.quit();
+		run_next_test();
+	});
+
+	ipv6Client.on('end', function () {
+		
+	});
+
+	// Exit immediately on connection failure, which triggers "exit", below, which fails the test
+	ipv6Client.on("error", function (err) {
+		console.error("client: " + err.stack);
+		process.exit();
+	});
+}
+
+
 tests.FLUSHDB = function () {
     var name = "FLUSHDB";
     client.select(test_db_num, require_string("OK", name));