diff --git a/components/esp-tls/esp_tls.c b/components/esp-tls/esp_tls.c
index 1211117b80b..0b01198915d 100644
--- a/components/esp-tls/esp_tls.c
+++ b/components/esp-tls/esp_tls.c
@@ -170,12 +170,24 @@ esp_tls_t *esp_tls_init(void)
     return tls;
 }
 
-static esp_err_t esp_tls_hostname_to_fd(const char *host, size_t hostlen, int port, struct sockaddr_storage *address, int* fd)
+static esp_err_t esp_tls_hostname_to_fd(const char *host, size_t hostlen, int port, esp_tls_addr_family_t addr_family, struct sockaddr_storage *address, int* fd)
 {
     struct addrinfo *address_info;
     struct addrinfo hints;
     memset(&hints, 0, sizeof(hints));
-    hints.ai_family = AF_UNSPEC;
+
+    switch(addr_family) {
+        case ESP_TLS_AF_INET:
+            hints.ai_family = AF_INET;
+            break;
+        case ESP_TLS_AF_INET6:
+            hints.ai_family = AF_INET6;
+            break;
+        default:
+            hints.ai_family = AF_UNSPEC;
+            break;
+    }
+
     hints.ai_socktype = SOCK_STREAM;
 
     char *use_host = strndup(host, hostlen);
@@ -319,7 +331,7 @@ static inline esp_err_t tcp_connect(const char *host, int hostlen, int port, con
 {
     struct sockaddr_storage address;
     int fd;
-    esp_err_t ret = esp_tls_hostname_to_fd(host, hostlen, port, &address, &fd);
+    esp_err_t ret = esp_tls_hostname_to_fd(host, hostlen, port, cfg->addr_family, &address, &fd);
     if (ret != ESP_OK) {
         ESP_INT_EVENT_TRACKER_CAPTURE(error_handle, ESP_TLS_ERR_TYPE_SYSTEM, errno);
         return ret;
diff --git a/components/esp-tls/esp_tls.h b/components/esp-tls/esp_tls.h
index 3ada350379e..0efe587b53b 100644
--- a/components/esp-tls/esp_tls.h
+++ b/components/esp-tls/esp_tls.h
@@ -71,6 +71,15 @@ typedef struct tls_keep_alive_cfg {
     int keep_alive_count;                 /*!< Keep-alive packet retry send count */
 } tls_keep_alive_cfg_t;
 
+/*
+* @brief ESP-TLS Address families
+*/
+typedef enum esp_tls_addr_family {
+    ESP_TLS_AF_UNSPEC = 0,                /**< Unspecified address family. */
+    ESP_TLS_AF_INET,                      /**< IPv4 address family. */
+    ESP_TLS_AF_INET6,                     /**< IPv6 address family. */
+} esp_tls_addr_family_t;
+
 /**
  * @brief      ESP-TLS configuration parameters
  *
@@ -182,6 +191,8 @@ typedef struct esp_tls_cfg {
 #ifdef CONFIG_ESP_TLS_CLIENT_SESSION_TICKETS
     esp_tls_client_session_t *client_session; /*! Pointer for the client session ticket context. */
 #endif /* CONFIG_ESP_TLS_CLIENT_SESSION_TICKETS */
+
+    esp_tls_addr_family_t addr_family;      /*!< The address family to use when connecting to a host. */
 } esp_tls_cfg_t;
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_ESP_TLS_SERVER