diff --git a/src/core/IO/Socket/INET.pm6 b/src/core/IO/Socket/INET.pm6
index 2b5f466f8..3d2b8f86b 100644
--- a/src/core/IO/Socket/INET.pm6
+++ b/src/core/IO/Socket/INET.pm6
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ my class IO::Socket::INET does IO::Socket {
 #?endif
         }
         elsif $.type == PIO::SOCK_STREAM {
-            nqp::connect($PIO, nqp::unbox_s($.host), nqp::unbox_i($.port));
+            nqp::connect($PIO, nqp::unbox_s($.host), nqp::unbox_i( ($!family +< 16) +| $.port));
         }
 
         nqp::bindattr(self, $?CLASS, '$!PIO', $PIO);