diff --git a/builder/openstack/run_config.go b/builder/openstack/run_config.go
index 42512c837..df6290ed0 100644
--- a/builder/openstack/run_config.go
+++ b/builder/openstack/run_config.go
@@ -56,5 +56,9 @@ func (c *RunConfig) Prepare(ctx *interpolate.Context) []error {
 		errs = append(errs, errors.New("A flavor must be specified"))
 	}
 
+	if c.SSHIPVersion != "" && c.SSHIPVersion != "4" && c.SSHIPVersion != "6" {
+		errs = append(errs, errors.New("SSH IP version must be either 4 or 6"))
+	}
+
 	return errs
 }
diff --git a/builder/openstack/ssh.go b/builder/openstack/ssh.go
index 5b99666f9..f7fb2d5a9 100644
--- a/builder/openstack/ssh.go
+++ b/builder/openstack/ssh.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
-	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
@@ -82,12 +81,6 @@ func SSHConfig(username string) func(multistep.StateBag) (*ssh.ClientConfig, err
 }
 
 func sshAddrFromPool(s *servers.Server, desired string, sshIPVersion string) string {
-
-	ipVersion, err := strconv.Atoi(sshIPVersion)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("[ERROR] Invalid ssh IP version: %s", sshIPVersion)
-	}
-
 	// Get all the addresses associated with this server. This
 	// was taken directly from Terraform.
 	for pool, networkAddresses := range s.Addresses {
@@ -112,11 +105,11 @@ func sshAddrFromPool(s *servers.Server, desired string, sshIPVersion string) str
 			address := element.(map[string]interface{})
 			if address["OS-EXT-IPS:type"] == "floating" {
 				addr = address["addr"].(string)
-			} else if ipVersion == 4 {
+			} else if sshIPVersion == "4" {
 				if address["version"].(float64) == 4 {
 					addr = address["addr"].(string)
 				}
-			} else if ipVersion == 6 {
+			} else if sshIPVersion == "6" {
 				if address["version"].(float64) == 6 {
 					addr = fmt.Sprintf("[%s]", address["addr"].(string))
 				}
diff --git a/website/source/docs/builders/openstack.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/builders/openstack.html.markdown
index 6e929270b..c1c9c84aa 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/builders/openstack.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/builders/openstack.html.markdown
@@ -115,7 +115,10 @@ builder.
     useful for Rackspace are "public" or "private", and the default behavior is
     to connect via whichever is returned first from the OpenStack API.
 
--   `ssh_ip_version` (string) - The IP version to use for SSH connections, valid values are `4` and `6`. Useful on dual stacked instances where the default behaviour is to connect via whichever IP address is returned first from the OpenStack API.
+-   `ssh_ip_version` (string) - The IP version to use for SSH connections, valid
+    values are `4` and `6`. Useful on dual stacked instances where the default
+    behaviour is to connect via whichever IP address is returned first from the
+    OpenStack API.
 
 -   `ssh_keypair_name` (string) - If specified, this is the key that will be
     used for SSH with the machine. By default, this is blank, and Packer will