diff --git a/ddclient b/ddclient
index 62ff478..86a32f3 100755
--- a/ddclient
+++ b/ddclient
@@ -2005,6 +2005,7 @@ sub geturl {
     my $url = $params->{url} // '';
     my $login = $params->{login} // '';
     my $password = $params->{password} // '';
+    my $ipversion = $params->{ipversion} // '';
     my $headers = $params->{headers} // '';
     my $method = $params->{method} // 'GET';
     my $data = $params->{data} // '';
@@ -2027,7 +2028,6 @@ sub geturl {
     if ($force_ssl || ($globals{'ssl'} and (caller(1))[3] ne 'main::get_ip')) {
         $use_ssl      = 1;
         $default_port = 443;
-        load_ssl_support;
     } else {
         $use_ssl      = 0;
         $default_port = 80;
@@ -2036,6 +2036,7 @@ sub geturl {
     debug("protocol = %s", $use_ssl ? "https" : "http");
     debug("server   = %s", $server);
     debug("url      = %s", $url);
+    debug("ip ver   = %s", $ipversion);
 
     ## determine peer and port to use.
     $peer = $proxy || $server;
@@ -2045,9 +2046,6 @@ sub geturl {
     $port = $default_port unless $port =~ /^\d+$/;
     $peer =~ s%:.*$%%;
 
-    my $to = sprintf "%s%s", $server, $proxy ? " via proxy $peer:$port" : "";
-    verbose("CONNECT:", "%s", $to);
-
     $request = "$method ";
     if (!$use_ssl) {
         $request .= "http://$server" if $proxy;
@@ -2073,57 +2071,61 @@ sub geturl {
     $request .= $data;
     $rq .= $data;
 
-
-    $0 = sprintf("%s - connecting to %s port %s", $program, $peer, $port);
-    if (!opt('exec')) {
-        debug("skipped network connection");
-        verbose("SENDING:", "%s", $request);
-    } elsif ($use_ssl) {
-        $sd = IO::Socket::SSL->new(
-            PeerAddr   => $peer,
-            PeerPort   => $port,
-            Proto      => 'tcp',
-            MultiHomed => 1,
-            Timeout    => opt('timeout'),
-        );
-        defined $sd or warning("cannot connect to %s:%s socket: %s %s", $peer, $port, $@, IO::Socket::SSL::errstr());
-    } elsif ($globals{'ipv6'}) {
+    my $socket_class = 'IO::Socket::INET';
+    if ($use_ssl) {
+        # IO::Socket::SSL will load IPv6 support if available on the system.
+        load_ssl_support;
+        $socket_class = 'IO::Socket::SSL';
+    } elsif ($globals{'ipv6'} || $ipversion eq '6') {
         load_ipv6_support;
-        $sd = IO::Socket::INET6->new(
-            PeerAddr   => $peer,
-            PeerPort   => $port,
-            Proto      => 'tcp',
-            MultiHomed => 1,
-            Timeout    => opt('timeout'),
-        );
-        defined $sd or warning("cannot connect to %s:%s socket: %s", $peer, $port, $@);
-    } else {
-        $sd = IO::Socket::INET->new(
-            PeerAddr   => $peer,
-            PeerPort   => $port,
-            Proto      => 'tcp',
-            MultiHomed => 1,
-            Timeout    => opt('timeout'),
-        );
-        defined $sd or warning("cannot connect to %s:%s socket: %s", $peer, $port, $@);
+        $socket_class = 'IO::Socket::INET6';
+    }
+    my %socket_args = (
+        PeerAddr => $peer,
+        PeerPort => $port,
+        Proto => 'tcp',
+        MultiHomed => 1,
+        Timeout => opt('timeout'),
+    );
+    if ($ipversion eq '4') {
+        $socket_args{Domain} = PF_INET;
+        $socket_args{Family} = AF_INET;
+    } elsif ($ipversion eq '6') {
+        $socket_args{Domain} = PF_INET6;
+        $socket_args{Family} = AF_INET6;
+    } elsif ($ipversion ne '') {
+        fatal("geturl passed unsupported 'ipversion' value %s", $ipversion);
     }
 
+    my $ipv = $ipversion eq '' ? '' : sprintf(" (IPv%s)", $ipversion);
+    my $peer_port_ipv = sprintf("%s:%s%s", $peer, $port, $ipv);
+    my $to = sprintf("%s%s%s", $server, $proxy ? " via proxy $peer:$port" : "", $ipv);
+    verbose("CONNECT:", "%s", $to);
+    $0 = sprintf("%s - connecting to %s", $program, $peer_port_ipv);
+    if (opt('exec')) {
+        $sd = $socket_class->new(%socket_args);
+        defined($sd) or warning("cannot connect to %s socket: %s%s", $peer_port_ipv, $@,
+                                $use_ssl ? ' ' . IO::Socket::SSL::errstr() : '');
+    } else {
+        debug("skipped network connection");
+        verbose("SENDING:", "%s", $request);
+    }
     if (defined $sd) {
         ## send the request to the http server
         verbose("CONNECTED: ", $use_ssl ? 'using SSL' : 'using HTTP');
         verbose("SENDING:", "%s", $request);
 
-        $0 = sprintf("%s - sending to %s port %s", $program, $peer, $port);
+        $0 = sprintf("%s - sending to %s", $program, $peer_port_ipv);
         my $result = syswrite $sd, $rq;
         if ($result != length($rq)) {
-            warning("cannot send to %s:%s (%s).", $peer, $port, $!);
+            warning("cannot send to %s (%s).", $peer_port_ipv, $!);
         } else {
-            $0 = sprintf("%s - reading from %s port %s", $program, $peer, $port);
+            $0 = sprintf("%s - reading from %s", $program, $peer_port_ipv);
             eval {
                 local $SIG{'ALRM'} = sub { die "timeout"; };
                 alarm(opt('timeout')) if opt('timeout') > 0;
                 while ($_ = <$sd>) {
-                    $0 = sprintf("%s - read from %s port %s", $program, $peer, $port);
+                    $0 = sprintf("%s - read from %s", $program, $peer_port_ipv);
                     verbose("RECEIVE:", "%s", define($_, "<undefined>"));
                     $reply .= $_ if defined $_;
                 }
@@ -2140,7 +2142,7 @@ sub geturl {
             $reply = '' if !defined $reply;
         }
     }
-    $0 = sprintf("%s - closed %s port %s", $program, $peer, $port);
+    $0 = sprintf("%s - closed %s", $program, $peer_port_ipv);
 
     ## during testing simulate reading the URL
     if (opt('test')) {