diff --git a/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py b/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py
index 99cbf488de4..15f68f043da 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ _SENTINEL = object()
 CTRL_RATE_LIMIT_MIN = 100
 CTRL_BURST_LIMIT_MIN = 25
 
+# TODO(slaweq): move this to neutron_lib.constants
+TYPE_GRE_IP6 = 'ip6gre'
+
 
 def _ovsdb_result_pending(result):
     """Return True if ovsdb indicates the result is still pending."""
@@ -97,6 +100,13 @@ def _ovsdb_retry(fn):
     return wrapped
 
 
+def get_gre_tunnel_port_type(remote_ip, local_ip):
+    if (common_utils.get_ip_version(remote_ip) == p_const.IP_VERSION_6 or
+            common_utils.get_ip_version(local_ip) == p_const.IP_VERSION_6):
+        return TYPE_GRE_IP6
+    return p_const.TYPE_GRE
+
+
 class VifPort(object):
     def __init__(self, port_name, ofport, vif_id, vif_mac, switch):
         self.port_name = port_name
@@ -514,6 +524,8 @@ class OVSBridge(BaseOVS):
                         dont_fragment=True,
                         tunnel_csum=False,
                         tos=None):
+        if tunnel_type == p_const.TYPE_GRE:
+            tunnel_type = get_gre_tunnel_port_type(remote_ip, local_ip)
         attrs = [('type', tunnel_type)]
         # TODO(twilson) This is an OrderedDict solely to make a test happy
         options = collections.OrderedDict()
@@ -537,6 +549,10 @@ class OVSBridge(BaseOVS):
             options['csum'] = str(tunnel_csum).lower()
         if tos:
             options['tos'] = str(tos)
+        if tunnel_type == TYPE_GRE_IP6:
+            # NOTE(slaweq) According to the OVS documentation L3 GRE tunnels
+            # over IPv6 are not supported.
+            options['packet_type'] = 'legacy'
         attrs.append(('options', options))
 
         return self.add_port(port_name, *attrs)
diff --git a/neutron/tests/functional/agent/common/test_ovs_lib.py b/neutron/tests/functional/agent/common/test_ovs_lib.py
index b39f7d219b9..81bb1f38d6c 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/functional/agent/common/test_ovs_lib.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/functional/agent/common/test_ovs_lib.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import functools
 
 import mock
+from neutron_lib import constants as p_const
 from neutron_lib.services.qos import constants as qos_constants
 from oslo_utils import uuidutils
 import six
@@ -437,3 +438,30 @@ class BaseOVSTestCase(base.BaseSudoTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(8000,
                          self.ovs.db_get_val('Controller', self.br_name,
                                              'inactivity_probe'))
+
+    def test_add_gre_tunnel_port(self):
+        ipv4_tunnel_port = "test-ipv4-port"
+        ipv6_tunnel_port = "test-ipv6-port"
+        self._create_bridge()
+        self.ovs.add_tunnel_port(
+            ipv4_tunnel_port, "10.0.0.1", "10.0.0.2",
+            tunnel_type=p_const.TYPE_GRE)
+        self.ovs.add_tunnel_port(
+            ipv6_tunnel_port, "2001:db8::1", "2001:db8:2",
+            tunnel_type=p_const.TYPE_GRE)
+        interfaces = self.ovs.get_ports_attributes(
+            "Interface", columns=["name", "type", "options"],
+            if_exists=True)
+
+        ipv4_port_type = None
+        ipv6_port_type = None
+        ipv6_port_options = {}
+        for interface in interfaces:
+            if interface['name'] == ipv4_tunnel_port:
+                ipv4_port_type = interface['type']
+            elif interface['name'] == ipv6_tunnel_port:
+                ipv6_port_type = interface['type']
+                ipv6_port_options = interface['options']
+        self.assertEqual(p_const.TYPE_GRE, ipv4_port_type)
+        self.assertEqual(ovs_lib.TYPE_GRE_IP6, ipv6_port_type)
+        self.assertEqual('legacy', ipv6_port_options.get('packet_type'))
diff --git a/neutron/tests/functional/agent/test_ovs_lib.py b/neutron/tests/functional/agent/test_ovs_lib.py
index c48ca9947c6..d7605d420b5 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/functional/agent/test_ovs_lib.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/functional/agent/test_ovs_lib.py
@@ -212,11 +212,12 @@ class OVSBridgeTestCase(OVSBridgeTestBase):
                                  self.br.br_name, 'datapath_id', dpid)
         self.assertIn(dpid, self.br.get_datapath_id())
 
-    def _test_add_tunnel_port(self, attrs):
+    def _test_add_tunnel_port(self, attrs,
+                              expected_tunnel_type=const.TYPE_GRE):
         port_name = utils.get_rand_device_name(net_helpers.PORT_PREFIX)
         self.br.add_tunnel_port(port_name, attrs['remote_ip'],
                                 attrs['local_ip'])
-        self.assertEqual('gre',
+        self.assertEqual(expected_tunnel_type,
                          self.ovs.db_get_val('Interface', port_name, 'type'))
         options = self.ovs.db_get_val('Interface', port_name, 'options')
         for attr, val in attrs.items():
@@ -234,7 +235,8 @@ class OVSBridgeTestCase(OVSBridgeTestBase):
             'remote_ip': '2001:db8:200::1',
             'local_ip': '2001:db8:100::1',
         }
-        self._test_add_tunnel_port(attrs)
+        self._test_add_tunnel_port(
+            attrs, expected_tunnel_type=ovs_lib.TYPE_GRE_IP6)
 
     def test_add_tunnel_port_custom_port(self):
         port_name = utils.get_rand_device_name(net_helpers.PORT_PREFIX)