diff --git a/enterprise/core-edge/src/main/java/org/neo4j/coreedge/messaging/address/AdvertisedSocketAddress.java b/enterprise/core-edge/src/main/java/org/neo4j/coreedge/messaging/address/AdvertisedSocketAddress.java
index d3b36a206b56..a762c371881d 100644
--- a/enterprise/core-edge/src/main/java/org/neo4j/coreedge/messaging/address/AdvertisedSocketAddress.java
+++ b/enterprise/core-edge/src/main/java/org/neo4j/coreedge/messaging/address/AdvertisedSocketAddress.java
@@ -22,24 +22,48 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
 import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
+import org.neo4j.coreedge.core.state.storage.SafeChannelMarshal;
 import org.neo4j.coreedge.messaging.EndOfStreamException;
 import org.neo4j.coreedge.messaging.marshalling.StringMarshal;
-import org.neo4j.coreedge.core.state.storage.SafeChannelMarshal;
 import org.neo4j.storageengine.api.ReadableChannel;
 import org.neo4j.storageengine.api.WritableChannel;
 
+import static java.lang.String.format;
+
 public class AdvertisedSocketAddress
 {
     private final String address;
+    private static final Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile( "(.+):(\\d+)" );
 
     public AdvertisedSocketAddress( String address )
     {
-        if (address == null)
+        this.address = validate( address );
+    }
+
+    private String validate( String address )
+    {
+        if ( address == null )
         {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException( "address cannot be null" );
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException( "AdvertisedSocketAddress cannot be null" );
         }
-        this.address = address;
+
+        address = address.trim();
+
+        if ( address.contains( " " ) )
+        {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException( format( "Cannot initialize AdvertisedSocketAddress for %s. Whitespace" +
+                    " characters cause unresolvable ambiguity.", address ) );
+        }
+
+        if ( !pattern.matcher( address ).matches() )
+        {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException( format( "AdvertisedSocketAddress can only be created with " +
+                    "hostname:port. %s is not acceptable", address ) );
+        }
+
+        return address;
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/enterprise/core-edge/src/test/java/org/neo4j/coreedge/messaging/address/AdvertisedSocketAddressTest.java b/enterprise/core-edge/src/test/java/org/neo4j/coreedge/messaging/address/AdvertisedSocketAddressTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..31505c02a7c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/enterprise/core-edge/src/test/java/org/neo4j/coreedge/messaging/address/AdvertisedSocketAddressTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2002-2016 "Neo Technology,"
+ * Network Engine for Objects in Lund AB [http://neotechnology.com]
+ *
+ * This file is part of Neo4j.
+ *
+ * Neo4j is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+package org.neo4j.coreedge.messaging.address;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static java.lang.String.format;
+
+import static junit.framework.TestCase.fail;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.containsString;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
+
+public class AdvertisedSocketAddressTest
+{
+    @Test
+    public void shouldCreateAdvertisedSocketAddressWithLeadingWhitespace() throws Exception
+    {
+        // given
+        AdvertisedSocketAddress address = new AdvertisedSocketAddress( whitespace( 1 ) + "localhost:9999" );
+
+        // when
+        String string = address.toString();
+
+        // then
+        assertFalse( string.contains( whitespace( 1 ) ) );
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldCreateAdvertisedSocketAddressWithTrailingWhitespace() throws Exception
+    {
+        // given
+        AdvertisedSocketAddress address = new AdvertisedSocketAddress( "localhost:9999" + whitespace( 1 ) );
+
+        // when
+        String string = address.toString();
+
+        // then
+        assertFalse( string.contains( whitespace( 1 ) ) );
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldFailToCreateSocketAddressWithMixedInWhitespace()
+    {
+        String address = "localhost:" + whitespace( 1 ) + "9999";
+        try
+        {
+            new AdvertisedSocketAddress( address );
+            fail( "Should have thrown an exception" );
+        }
+        catch ( IllegalArgumentException e )
+        {
+            assertThat( e.getMessage(),
+                    containsString( format( "Cannot initialize AdvertisedSocketAddress for %s. Whitespace " +
+                            "characters cause unresolvable ambiguity.", address ) ) );
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldFailOnArgumentThatIsNotHostnameColonPort()
+    {
+        String address = "localhost:";
+        try
+        {
+            new AdvertisedSocketAddress( address );
+            fail( "Should have thrown an exception" );
+        }
+        catch ( IllegalArgumentException e )
+        {
+            assertThat( e.getMessage(),
+                    containsString( format( "AdvertisedSocketAddress can only be created with hostname:port. " +
+                            "%s is not acceptable", address ) ) );
+        }
+    }
+
+    private String whitespace( int numberOfWhitespaces )
+    {
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+
+        for ( int i = 0; i < numberOfWhitespaces; i++ )
+        {
+            sb.append( " " );
+        }
+
+        return sb.toString();
+    }
+}