diff --git a/apps/include/http_server.h b/apps/include/http_server.h
index 4811e6be40137c..3d3f298a1dc429 100644
--- a/apps/include/http_server.h
+++ b/apps/include/http_server.h
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 
 # ifndef OPENSSL_NO_SOCK
 /*-
- * Initialize an HTTP server, setting up its listening BIO
+ * Initialize an HTTP server, setting up its listening BIO, using IPv4 or v6
  * prog: the name of the current app
  * port: the port to listen on
  * verbosity: the level of verbosity to use, or -1 for default: LOG_INFO
diff --git a/apps/lib/http_server.c b/apps/lib/http_server.c
index 48daea78fd5e38..765c016a37c16e 100644
--- a/apps/lib/http_server.c
+++ b/apps/lib/http_server.c
@@ -202,6 +202,7 @@ BIO *http_server_init(const char *prog, const char *port, int verb)
         goto err;
     acbio = BIO_new(BIO_s_accept());
     if (acbio == NULL
+        || BIO_set_accept_ip_family(acbio, BIO_FAMILY_IPANY) <= 0 /* IPv4/6 */
         || BIO_set_bind_mode(acbio, BIO_BIND_REUSEADDR) <= 0
         || BIO_set_accept_name(acbio, name) <= 0) {
         log_HTTP(prog, LOG_ERR, "error setting up accept BIO");