diff --git a/block/nbd.c b/block/nbd.c
index 30e3b78e17..9c480b8f26 100644
--- a/block/nbd.c
+++ b/block/nbd.c
@@ -118,13 +118,22 @@ static int nbd_parse_uri(const char *filename, QDict *options)
         }
         qdict_put(options, "path", qstring_from_str(qp->p[0].value));
     } else {
+        QString *host;
         /* nbd[+tcp]://host[:port]/export */
         if (!uri->server) {
             ret = -EINVAL;
             goto out;
         }
 
-        qdict_put(options, "host", qstring_from_str(uri->server));
+        /* strip braces from literal IPv6 address */
+        if (uri->server[0] == '[') {
+            host = qstring_from_substr(uri->server, 1,
+                                       strlen(uri->server) - 2);
+        } else {
+            host = qstring_from_str(uri->server);
+        }
+
+        qdict_put(options, "host", host);
         if (uri->port) {
             char* port_str = g_strdup_printf("%d", uri->port);
             qdict_put(options, "port", qstring_from_str(port_str));
diff --git a/util/qemu-sockets.c b/util/qemu-sockets.c
index fdd8dc460b..96eca2ad95 100644
--- a/util/qemu-sockets.c
+++ b/util/qemu-sockets.c
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 
 #include "monitor/monitor.h"
 #include "qemu/sockets.h"
-#include "qemu-common.h" /* for qemu_isdigit */
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
 
 #ifndef AI_ADDRCONFIG
@@ -511,19 +510,15 @@ InetSocketAddress *inet_parse(const char *str, Error **errp)
             goto fail;
         }
         addr->ipv6 = addr->has_ipv6 = true;
-    } else if (qemu_isdigit(str[0])) {
-        /* IPv4 addr */
-        if (2 != sscanf(str, "%64[0-9.]:%32[^,]%n", host, port, &pos)) {
-            error_setg(errp, "error parsing IPv4 address '%s'", str);
-            goto fail;
-        }
-        addr->ipv4 = addr->has_ipv4 = true;
     } else {
-        /* hostname */
+        /* hostname or IPv4 addr */
         if (2 != sscanf(str, "%64[^:]:%32[^,]%n", host, port, &pos)) {
             error_setg(errp, "error parsing address '%s'", str);
             goto fail;
         }
+        if (host[strspn(host, "0123456789.")] == '\0') {
+            addr->ipv4 = addr->has_ipv4 = true;
+        }
     }
 
     addr->host = g_strdup(host);