diff --git a/web/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/web/util/IpAddressMatcher.java b/web/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/web/util/IpAddressMatcher.java
index 91b2223fab..cb966c8451 100644
--- a/web/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/web/util/IpAddressMatcher.java
+++ b/web/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/web/util/IpAddressMatcher.java
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * Matches a request based on IP Address or subnet mask matching against the remote address.
+ * <p>
+ * Both IPv6 and IPv4 addresses are supported, but a matcher which is configured with an IPv4 address will
+ * never match a request which returns an IPv6 address, and vice-versa.
  *
  * @author Luke Taylor
  * @since 3.0.2
@@ -40,8 +43,7 @@ public class IpAddressMatcher implements RequestMatcher {
         InetAddress remoteAddress = parseAddress(request.getRemoteAddr());
 
         if (!requiredAddress.getClass().equals(remoteAddress.getClass())) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("IP Address in expression must be the same type as " +
-                    "version returned by request");
+            return false;
         }
 
         if (nMaskBits == 0) {
diff --git a/web/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/web/util/IpAddressMatcherTests.java b/web/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/web/util/IpAddressMatcherTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7ae21a0ad6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/web/util/IpAddressMatcherTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+package org.springframework.security.web.util;
+
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.mock.web.MockHttpServletRequest;
+
+
+/**
+ * @author Luke Taylor
+ */
+public class IpAddressMatcherTests {
+    final IpAddressMatcher v6matcher = new IpAddressMatcher("fe80::21f:5bff:fe33:bd68");
+    final IpAddressMatcher v4matcher = new IpAddressMatcher("192.168.1.104");
+    MockHttpServletRequest ipv4Request = new MockHttpServletRequest();
+    MockHttpServletRequest ipv6Request = new MockHttpServletRequest();
+
+    @Before
+    public void setup() {
+        ipv6Request.setRemoteAddr("fe80::21f:5bff:fe33:bd68");
+        ipv4Request.setRemoteAddr("192.168.1.104");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void ipv6MatcherMatchesIpv6Address() {
+        assertTrue(v6matcher.matches(ipv6Request));
+    }
+
+
+    @Test
+    public void ipv6MatcherDoesntMatchIpv4Address() {
+        assertFalse(v6matcher.matches(ipv4Request));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void ipv4MatcherMatchesIpv4Address() {
+        assertTrue(v4matcher.matches(ipv4Request));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void ipv4SubnetMatchesCorrectly() throws Exception {
+        IpAddressMatcher matcher = new IpAddressMatcher("192.168.1.0/24");
+        assertTrue(matcher.matches(ipv4Request));
+        matcher = new IpAddressMatcher("192.168.1.128/25");
+        assertFalse(matcher.matches(ipv4Request));
+        ipv4Request.setRemoteAddr("192.168.1.159"); // 159 = 0x9f
+        assertTrue(matcher.matches(ipv4Request));
+    }
+}