diff --git a/Database/MongoDB/Connection.hs b/Database/MongoDB/Connection.hs
index bd7f330..d366de6 100644
--- a/Database/MongoDB/Connection.hs
+++ b/Database/MongoDB/Connection.hs
@@ -20,11 +20,11 @@ import Database.MongoDB.Internal.Protocol (Pipe, newPipe)
 import System.IO.Pipeline (IOE, close, isClosed)
 import Control.Exception as E (try)
 import Network (HostName, PortID(..), connectTo)
-import Text.ParserCombinators.Parsec as T (parse, many1, letter, digit, char, eof, spaces, try, (<|>))
+import Text.ParserCombinators.Parsec as T (ParseError, parse, many, many1, letter, digit, hexDigit, char, string, eof, spaces, try, (<|>))
 import Control.Monad.Identity (runIdentity)
 import Control.Monad.Error (ErrorT(..), lift, throwError)
 import Control.Concurrent.MVar.Lifted
-import Control.Monad (forM_)
+import Control.Monad (forM_, liftM, liftM2)
 import Control.Applicative ((<$>))
 import Data.UString (UString, unpack)
 import Data.Bson as D (Document, lookup, at, (=:))
@@ -71,15 +71,49 @@ readHostPortM :: (Monad m) => String -> m Host
 -- TODO: handle Service and UnixSocket port
 readHostPortM = either (fail . show) return . parse parser "readHostPort" where
 	hostname = many1 (letter <|> digit <|> char '-' <|> char '.')
-	parser = do
-		spaces
+        parser = spaces >> (T.try simpleParser <|> ipv6Parser)
+	simpleParser = do
 		h <- hostname
-		T.try (spaces >> eof >> return (host h)) <|> do
-			_ <- char ':'
-			port :: Int <- read <$> many1 digit
-			spaces >> eof
-			return $ Host h (PortNumber $ fromIntegral port)
-
+                T.try (spaces >> eof >> return (host h)) <|> do
+                  _ <- char ':'
+                  port :: Int <- read <$> many1 digit
+                  spaces >> eof
+                  return $ Host h (PortNumber $ fromIntegral port)
+        breakLast :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> ([a], [a])
+        breakLast f = either (\l -> (l, [])) id . foldr (\e s -> either (\l -> if f e then Right ([], l) else Left (e:l)) (\(a, b) -> Right (e:a, b)) s) (Left [])
+        ipv6Parser = do
+          fullHost <- liftM2 (++) (many hexDigit) (liftM2 (:) (char ':') (many1 (hexDigit <|> (char ':'))))
+          eof
+          let
+            (splitHost, splitPort) = breakLast (==':') fullHost
+            splitPortParsed :: Either ParseError Int
+            splitPortParsed = parse (liftM read (many1 digit)) "hostPort port" splitPort
+            splitHostParsed = parse ipv6HostTest "hostPort host" splitHost
+            fullHostParsed = parse ipv6HostTest "hostPort host" fullHost
+          case (splitHostParsed, splitPortParsed, fullHostParsed) of
+            -- Resolve the ambiguous cases (e.g. ::1:1234) as host:port
+            (Right _, Right p, _) -> return $ Host splitHost (PortNumber $ fromIntegral p)
+            (_, _, Right _) -> return $ host fullHost
+            _ -> fail "HostPort specification contains more than one :, but is invalid as an IPv6 address or IPv6 address:port"
+        ipv6HostTest = ((T.try (string "::") >> ipv6HostTest' True True 7) <|>
+                        ipv6HostTest' False False 8) >> eof
+                       
+        ipv6HostTest' hadDouble True v = eof <|> ipv6HostTest' hadDouble False v
+        ipv6HostTest' hadDouble False v =
+          (do
+              many1 hexDigit
+              if v == 1
+                then eof
+                else
+                  (if hadDouble then eof else do
+                      T.try (string "::")
+                      ipv6HostTest' True True (v-1)
+                  ) <|>
+                  (do
+                    char ':'
+                    ipv6HostTest' hadDouble False (v-1)
+                  )
+          )
 readHostPort :: String -> Host
 -- ^ Read string \"hostname:port\" as @Host hostname (PortNumber port)@ or \"hostname\" as @host hostname@ (default port). Error if string does not match either syntax.
 readHostPort = runIdentity . readHostPortM
diff --git a/tests/TestReadHostPort.hs b/tests/TestReadHostPort.hs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dbe3ae7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/TestReadHostPort.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import Database.MongoDB.Connection
+import System.Exit
+import Control.Monad
+
+testList = [
+  ("Simple host", readHostPort "host" == Host "host" (PortNumber 27017)),
+  ("Simple host with port", readHostPort "host:123" == Host "host" (PortNumber 123)),
+  ("Pathological ::1:1234 case", readHostPort "::1:1234" == Host "::1" (PortNumber 1234)),
+  ("Full IPv6 with port", readHostPort "1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8:1234" == Host "1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8" (PortNumber 1234)),
+  ("Full IPv6 without port", readHostPort "1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8" == Host "1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8" (PortNumber 27017)),
+  ("Partial IPv6 with port", readHostPort "1:2:3::4:12" == Host "1:2:3::4" (PortNumber 12)),
+  ("Partial IPv6 with hex at end", readHostPort "1:2:3::4:a" == Host "1:2:3::4:a" (PortNumber 27017))
+           ]
+main =
+  let
+    failedTests = filter (not . snd) testList
+  in
+   if null failedTests then
+     putStrLn "All tests passed"
+   else
+     do
+       putStrLn "The following tests failed:"
+       forM_ failedTests $ \(descr, _) -> putStrLn $ "  * " ++ descr
+       exitWith (ExitFailure 1)