diff -r 62438d1b11c7 Doc/library/socketserver.rst
--- a/Doc/library/socketserver.rst	Fri May 02 23:26:03 2014 +0200
+++ b/Doc/library/socketserver.rst	Sat May 03 23:40:05 2014 +0200
@@ -181,6 +181,8 @@
 
    The family of protocols to which the server's socket belongs.
    Common examples are :const:`socket.AF_INET` and :const:`socket.AF_UNIX`.
+   Note that :const:`socket.AF_INET` will be automatically updated to
+   :const:`socket.AF_INET6` if you specify to listen to an IPv6 address.
 
 
 .. attribute:: BaseServer.RequestHandlerClass
diff -r 62438d1b11c7 Lib/socketserver.py
--- a/Lib/socketserver.py	Fri May 02 23:26:03 2014 +0200
+++ b/Lib/socketserver.py	Sat May 03 23:40:05 2014 +0200
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@
 import selectors
 import os
 import errno
+from ipaddress import IPv6Address, AddressValueError
 try:
     import threading
 except ImportError:
@@ -439,6 +440,7 @@
     def __init__(self, server_address, RequestHandlerClass, bind_and_activate=True):
         """Constructor.  May be extended, do not override."""
         BaseServer.__init__(self, server_address, RequestHandlerClass)
+        self.address_family_ipv6_check(server_address);
         self.socket = socket.socket(self.address_family,
                                     self.socket_type)
         if bind_and_activate:
@@ -498,6 +500,18 @@
             pass #some platforms may raise ENOTCONN here
         self.close_request(request)
 
+    def address_family_ipv6_check(self, server_address):
+        """Called by constructor to determine if the socket address family
+        should be upgraded from IPv4 to IPv6 based on the server IP address.
+        """
+        try:
+            if (self.address_family == socket.AF_INET and
+                len(server_address) == 2 and
+                IPv6Address(server_address[0]).version == 6):
+                self.address_family = socket.AF_INET6
+        except (AddressValueError):
+            pass
+
     def close_request(self, request):
         """Called to clean up an individual request."""
         request.close()