diff --git a/furl/furl.py b/furl/furl.py
index cd6d710..00379fe 100644
--- a/furl/furl.py
+++ b/furl/furl.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 import re
 import abc
+import ipaddress
 import warnings
 from copy import deepcopy
 from posixpath import normpath
@@ -241,6 +242,37 @@ def is_valid_host(hostname):
     return '' not in toks  # Adjacent periods aren't allowed.
 
 
+def is_valid_ipv4(ip):
+    if isinstance(ip, six.binary_type):
+        ip = ip.decode()
+
+    try:
+        ipaddress.IPv4Address(ip)
+        return True
+    except ValueError:
+        return False
+
+
+def is_valid_ipv6(ip):
+    if isinstance(ip, six.binary_type):
+        ip = ip.decode()
+
+    # ipaddress handle IPs without brackets
+    if (
+        callable_attr(ip, 'startswith')
+        and callable_attr(ip, 'endswith')
+        and ip.startswith("[")
+        and ip.endswith("]")
+    ):
+        ip = ip[1:-1]
+
+    try:
+        ipaddress.IPv6Address(ip)
+        return True
+    except ValueError:
+        return False
+
+
 def get_scheme(url):
     if url.startswith(':'):
         return ''
@@ -1434,21 +1466,27 @@ def host(self, host):
         """
         Raises: ValueError on invalid host or malformed IPv6 address.
         """
-        # Invalid IPv6 literal.
-        urllib.parse.urlsplit('http://%s/' % host)  # Raises ValueError.
-
-        # Invalid host string.
-        resembles_ipv6_literal = (
-            host is not None and lget(host, 0) == '[' and ':' in host and
-            lget(host, -1) == ']')
-        if (host is not None and not resembles_ipv6_literal and
-           not is_valid_host(host)):
+        if (
+            host
+            and not is_valid_host(host)
+            and not is_valid_ipv4(host)
+            and not is_valid_ipv6(host)
+        ):
             errmsg = (
                 "Invalid host '%s'. Host strings must have at least one "
                 "non-period character, can't contain any of '%s', and can't "
                 "have adjacent periods.")
             raise ValueError(errmsg % (host, INVALID_HOST_CHARS))
 
+        if (
+            is_valid_ipv6(host)
+            and callable_attr(host, 'startswith')
+            and callable_attr(host, 'endswith')
+            and not host.startswith("[")
+            and not host.endswith("]")
+        ):
+            host = "[" + host + "]"
+
         if callable_attr(host, 'lower'):
             host = host.lower()
         if callable_attr(host, 'startswith') and host.startswith('xn--'):
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 8322619..887ca2e 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ def run_tests(self):
     install_requires=[
         'six>=1.8.0',
         'orderedmultidict>=1.0.1',
+        'ipaddress>=1.0.23; python_version < "3.3"',
     ],
     cmdclass={
         'test': RunTests,
diff --git a/tests/test_furl.py b/tests/test_furl.py
index bc268c8..5d67461 100644
--- a/tests/test_furl.py
+++ b/tests/test_furl.py
@@ -1655,10 +1655,19 @@ def test_hosts(self):
         # addresses.
         f = furl.furl('http://1.2.3.4.5.6/')
 
-        # Invalid, but well-formed, IPv6 addresses shouldn't raise an
-        # exception because urlparse.urlsplit() doesn't raise an
-        # exception on invalid IPv6 addresses.
-        furl.furl('http://[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:9999999999999]/')
+        # IPv6 without brackets should be corrected
+        f.set(host="::1")
+        assert f.host == "[::1]"
+        assert f.url == "http://[::1]/"
+
+        f.set(host="[::]")
+        assert f.host == "[::]"
+        assert f.url == "http://[::]/"
+
+        # Invalid, but well-formed, IPv6 addresses should raise an
+        # exception.
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            furl.furl('http://[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:9999999999999]/')
 
         # Malformed IPv6 should raise an exception because urlparse.urlsplit()
         # raises an exception on malformed IPv6 addresses.
@@ -1684,12 +1693,17 @@ def test_netloc(self):
         assert f.host == '1.2.3.4.5.6'
         assert f.port == 999
 
-        netloc = '[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:9999999999999]:888'
+        netloc = '[1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]:888'
         f.netloc = netloc
         assert f.netloc == netloc
-        assert f.host == '[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:9999999999999]'
+        assert f.host == '[1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]'
         assert f.port == 888
 
+        # Well-formed but invalid IPv6 should raise an exception
+        netloc = '[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:9999999999999]:888'
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            f.netloc = netloc
+
         # Malformed IPv6 should raise an exception because
         # urlparse.urlsplit() raises an exception
         with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
@@ -1703,10 +1717,6 @@ def test_netloc(self):
         with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
             f.netloc = 'pump2pump.org:777777777777'
 
-        # No side effects.
-        assert f.host == '[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:9999999999999]'
-        assert f.port == 888
-
         # Empty netloc.
         f = furl.furl('//')
         assert f.scheme is None and f.netloc == '' and f.url == '//'