diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonWorkerFactory.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonWorkerFactory.scala
index 2beca6fddb27..69a74146fad1 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonWorkerFactory.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonWorkerFactory.scala
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ private[spark] class PythonWorkerFactory(pythonExec: String, envVars: Map[String
 
   @GuardedBy("self")
   private var daemon: Process = null
-  val daemonHost = InetAddress.getByAddress(Array(127, 0, 0, 1))
+  val daemonHost = InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress()
   @GuardedBy("self")
   private var daemonPort: Int = 0
   @GuardedBy("self")
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ private[spark] class PythonWorkerFactory(pythonExec: String, envVars: Map[String
   private def createSimpleWorker(): (Socket, Option[Int]) = {
     var serverSocket: ServerSocket = null
     try {
-      serverSocket = new ServerSocket(0, 1, InetAddress.getByAddress(Array(127, 0, 0, 1)))
+      serverSocket = new ServerSocket(0, 1, InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress())
 
       // Create and start the worker
       val pb = new ProcessBuilder(Arrays.asList(pythonExec, "-m", workerModule))
@@ -164,6 +164,9 @@ private[spark] class PythonWorkerFactory(pythonExec: String, envVars: Map[String
       workerEnv.put("PYTHONUNBUFFERED", "YES")
       workerEnv.put("PYTHON_WORKER_FACTORY_PORT", serverSocket.getLocalPort.toString)
       workerEnv.put("PYTHON_WORKER_FACTORY_SECRET", authHelper.secret)
+      if (Utils.preferIPv6) {
+        workerEnv.put("SPARK_PREFER_IPV6", "True")
+      }
       val worker = pb.start()
 
       // Redirect worker stdout and stderr
@@ -211,6 +214,9 @@ private[spark] class PythonWorkerFactory(pythonExec: String, envVars: Map[String
         workerEnv.putAll(envVars.asJava)
         workerEnv.put("PYTHONPATH", pythonPath)
         workerEnv.put("PYTHON_WORKER_FACTORY_SECRET", authHelper.secret)
+        if (Utils.preferIPv6) {
+          workerEnv.put("SPARK_PREFER_IPV6", "True")
+        }
         // This is equivalent to setting the -u flag; we use it because ipython doesn't support -u:
         workerEnv.put("PYTHONUNBUFFERED", "YES")
         daemon = pb.start()
diff --git a/python/pyspark/daemon.py b/python/pyspark/daemon.py
index 6676bf911937..81b6481f70ea 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/daemon.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/daemon.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 import time
 import gc
 from errno import EINTR, EAGAIN
-from socket import AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, SOMAXCONN
+from socket import AF_INET, AF_INET6, SOCK_STREAM, SOMAXCONN
 from signal import SIGHUP, SIGTERM, SIGCHLD, SIG_DFL, SIG_IGN, SIGINT
 
 from pyspark.worker import main as worker_main
@@ -86,11 +86,17 @@ def manager():
     # Create a new process group to corral our children
     os.setpgid(0, 0)
 
-    # Create a listening socket on the AF_INET loopback interface
-    listen_sock = socket.socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM)
-    listen_sock.bind(("127.0.0.1", 0))
-    listen_sock.listen(max(1024, SOMAXCONN))
-    listen_host, listen_port = listen_sock.getsockname()
+    # Create a listening socket on the loopback interface
+    if os.environ.get("SPARK_PREFER_IPV6", "false").lower() == "true":
+        listen_sock = socket.socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_STREAM)
+        listen_sock.bind(("::1", 0, 0, 0))
+        listen_sock.listen(max(1024, SOMAXCONN))
+        listen_host, listen_port, _, _ = listen_sock.getsockname()
+    else:
+        listen_sock = socket.socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM)
+        listen_sock.bind(("127.0.0.1", 0))
+        listen_sock.listen(max(1024, SOMAXCONN))
+        listen_host, listen_port = listen_sock.getsockname()
 
     # re-open stdin/stdout in 'wb' mode
     stdin_bin = os.fdopen(sys.stdin.fileno(), "rb", 4)
diff --git a/python/pyspark/java_gateway.py b/python/pyspark/java_gateway.py
index a41ccfafde4e..aee206dd6b3e 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/java_gateway.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/java_gateway.py
@@ -193,8 +193,10 @@ def local_connect_and_auth(port, auth_secret):
     sock = None
     errors = []
     # Support for both IPv4 and IPv6.
-    # On most of IPv6-ready systems, IPv6 will take precedence.
-    for res in socket.getaddrinfo("127.0.0.1", port, socket.AF_UNSPEC, socket.SOCK_STREAM):
+    addr = "127.0.0.1"
+    if os.environ.get("SPARK_PREFER_IPV6", "false").lower() == "true":
+        addr = "::1"
+    for res in socket.getaddrinfo(addr, port, socket.AF_UNSPEC, socket.SOCK_STREAM):
         af, socktype, proto, _, sa = res
         try:
             sock = socket.socket(af, socktype, proto)