diff --git a/requirements-py3.txt b/requirements-py3.txt
index 84d9dc6..d15bd16 100644
--- a/requirements-py3.txt
+++ b/requirements-py3.txt
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@ six>=1.9.0
 WebOb>=1.2.3
 simplegeneric
 pytz
+netaddr>=0.7.12
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 8662b14..d15bd16 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 six>=1.9.0
 WebOb>=1.2.3
 simplegeneric
-ipaddr
 pytz
+netaddr>=0.7.12
diff --git a/wsme/tests/test_types.py b/wsme/tests/test_types.py
index 3aa98ca..c11ba34 100644
--- a/wsme/tests/test_types.py
+++ b/wsme/tests/test_types.py
@@ -339,20 +339,24 @@ Value: 'v3'. Value should be one of: v., v.",
         v = types.IPv4AddressType()
         self.assertEqual(v.validate('127.0.0.1'), '127.0.0.1')
         self.assertEqual(v.validate('192.168.0.1'), '192.168.0.1')
+        self.assertEqual(v.validate(u'8.8.1.1'), u'8.8.1.1')
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, v.validate, '')
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, v.validate, 'foo')
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, v.validate,
                           '2001:0db8:bd05:01d2:288a:1fc0:0001:10ee')
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, v.validate, '1.2.3')
 
     def test_validate_ipv6_address_type(self):
         v = types.IPv6AddressType()
         self.assertEqual(v.validate('0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1'),
                          '0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1')
+        self.assertEqual(v.validate(u'0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1'), u'0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1')
         self.assertEqual(v.validate('2001:0db8:bd05:01d2:288a:1fc0:0001:10ee'),
                          '2001:0db8:bd05:01d2:288a:1fc0:0001:10ee')
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, v.validate, '')
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, v.validate, 'foo')
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, v.validate, '192.168.0.1')
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, v.validate, '0:0:0:0:0:0:1')
 
     def test_validate_uuid_type(self):
         v = types.UuidType()
diff --git a/wsme/types.py b/wsme/types.py
index ac16694..77404e5 100644
--- a/wsme/types.py
+++ b/wsme/types.py
@@ -3,17 +3,13 @@ import datetime
 import decimal
 import inspect
 import logging
+import netaddr
 import re
 import six
 import sys
 import uuid
 import weakref
 
-try:
-    import ipaddress
-except ImportError:
-    import ipaddr as ipaddress
-
 from wsme import exc
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -234,8 +230,8 @@ class IPv4AddressType(UserType):
     @staticmethod
     def validate(value):
         try:
-            ipaddress.IPv4Address(value)
-        except ipaddress.AddressValueError:
+            netaddr.IPAddress(value, version=4, flags=netaddr.INET_PTON)
+        except netaddr.AddrFormatError:
             error = 'Value should be IPv4 format'
             raise ValueError(error)
         else:
@@ -254,8 +250,8 @@ class IPv6AddressType(UserType):
     @staticmethod
     def validate(value):
         try:
-            ipaddress.IPv6Address(value)
-        except ipaddress.AddressValueError:
+            netaddr.IPAddress(value, version=6, flags=netaddr.INET_PTON)
+        except netaddr.AddrFormatError:
             error = 'Value should be IPv6 format'
             raise ValueError(error)
         else: