diff --git a/core-common/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/ExternalProperties.java b/core-common/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/ExternalProperties.java
index 04ef1bd323..285c69735f 100644
--- a/core-common/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/ExternalProperties.java
+++ b/core-common/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/ExternalProperties.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2020 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2020, 2021 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  *
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
  * terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0, which is available at
@@ -37,6 +37,15 @@ public final class ExternalProperties {
      */
     public static final String HTTP_NON_PROXY_HOSTS = "http.nonProxyHosts";
 
+    /**
+     * If IPv6 is available on the operating system the underlying native socket will be,
+     * by default, an IPv6 socket which lets applications connect to, and accept connections from,
+     * both IPv4 and IPv6 hosts.
+     * However, in the case an application would rather use IPv4 only sockets, then this property can be set to true.
+     * The implication is that it will not be possible for the application to communicate with IPv6 only hosts.
+     */
+    public static final String JAVA_NET_PREFERIPV4STACK = "java.net.preferIPv4Stack";
+
     /**
      * Prevent instantiation.
      */
diff --git a/tests/integration/externalproperties/pom.xml b/tests/integration/externalproperties/pom.xml
index eb56341c26..768d96e064 100644
--- a/tests/integration/externalproperties/pom.xml
+++ b/tests/integration/externalproperties/pom.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
 
-    Copyright (c) 2020 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+    Copyright (c) 2020, 2021 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 
     This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
     terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0, which is available at
@@ -42,6 +42,36 @@
             <artifactId>jersey-test-framework-provider-jetty</artifactId>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.glassfish.jersey.containers</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jersey-container-grizzly2-http</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.glassfish.jersey.connectors</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jersey-apache-connector</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.glassfish.jersey.connectors</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jersey-grizzly-connector</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.glassfish.jersey.connectors</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jersey-jdk-connector</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.glassfish.jersey.connectors</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jersey-jetty-connector</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.glassfish.jersey.connectors</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jersey-netty-connector</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
     <build>
@@ -49,6 +79,11 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
+                <configuration>
+                    <systemPropertyVariables>
+                        <java.net.preferIPv4Stack>true</java.net.preferIPv4Stack>
+                    </systemPropertyVariables>
+                </configuration>
             </plugin>
         </plugins>
     </build>
diff --git a/tests/integration/externalproperties/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/tests/externalproperties/HttpProxyTest.java b/tests/integration/externalproperties/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/tests/externalproperties/HttpProxyTest.java
index 94100297f0..507eae71b3 100644
--- a/tests/integration/externalproperties/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/tests/externalproperties/HttpProxyTest.java
+++ b/tests/integration/externalproperties/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/tests/externalproperties/HttpProxyTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2020 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2020, 2021 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  *
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
  * terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0, which is available at
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import org.glassfish.jersey.ExternalProperties;
 import org.glassfish.jersey.server.ResourceConfig;
 import org.glassfish.jersey.test.JerseyTest;
+import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ public class HttpProxyTest extends JerseyTest {
     private static final String PROXY_HOST = "localhost";
     private static final String PROXY_PORT = "9997";
     private static boolean proxyHit = false;
+    private static Server server;
 
     @Path("resource")
     public static class ProxyTestResource {
@@ -58,7 +60,7 @@ protected Application configure() {
     public void startFakeProxy() {
         System.setProperty(ExternalProperties.HTTP_PROXY_HOST, PROXY_HOST);
         System.setProperty(ExternalProperties.HTTP_PROXY_PORT, PROXY_PORT);
-        Server server = new Server(Integer.parseInt(PROXY_PORT));
+        server = new Server(Integer.parseInt(PROXY_PORT));
         server.setHandler(new ProxyHandler(false));
         try {
             server.start();
@@ -67,6 +69,11 @@ public void startFakeProxy() {
         }
     }
 
+    @After
+    public void stopFakeProxy() throws Exception {
+        server.stop();
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testProxy() {
         System.setProperty(ExternalProperties.HTTP_NON_PROXY_HOSTS, "");
diff --git a/tests/integration/externalproperties/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/tests/externalproperties/IPv4ConnectorTest.java b/tests/integration/externalproperties/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/tests/externalproperties/IPv4ConnectorTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4bfc41dcf2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/externalproperties/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/tests/externalproperties/IPv4ConnectorTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2021 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+ * terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0, which is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0.
+ *
+ * This Source Code may also be made available under the following Secondary
+ * Licenses when the conditions for such availability set forth in the
+ * Eclipse Public License v. 2.0 are satisfied: GNU General Public License,
+ * version 2 with the GNU Classpath Exception, which is available at
+ * https://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/license.html.
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0 OR GPL-2.0 WITH Classpath-exception-2.0
+ */
+
+package org.glassfish.jersey.tests.externalproperties;
+
+import org.glassfish.jersey.apache.connector.ApacheConnectorProvider;
+import org.glassfish.jersey.client.ClientConfig;
+import org.glassfish.jersey.client.HttpUrlConnectorProvider;
+import org.glassfish.jersey.client.spi.ConnectorProvider;
+import org.glassfish.jersey.grizzly.connector.GrizzlyConnectorProvider;
+import org.glassfish.jersey.jdk.connector.JdkConnectorProvider;
+import org.glassfish.jersey.jetty.connector.JettyConnectorProvider;
+import org.glassfish.jersey.netty.connector.NettyConnectorProvider;
+import org.glassfish.jersey.server.ResourceConfig;
+import org.glassfish.jersey.test.JerseyTest;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.runners.Parameterized;
+
+import javax.ws.rs.ProcessingException;
+import javax.ws.rs.core.Application;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+
+@RunWith(Parameterized.class)
+public class IPv4ConnectorTest extends JerseyTest {
+
+    @Parameterized.Parameters(name = "{index}: {0}")
+    public static List<Object[]> connectors() {
+        return Arrays.asList(new Object[][]{
+                {HttpUrlConnectorProvider.class},
+                {GrizzlyConnectorProvider.class},
+                {JettyConnectorProvider.class},
+                {ApacheConnectorProvider.class},
+                {GrizzlyConnectorProvider.class},
+                {NettyConnectorProvider.class},
+                {JdkConnectorProvider.class},
+        });
+    }
+
+    private final ConnectorProvider connectorProvider;
+
+    public IPv4ConnectorTest(Class<? extends ConnectorProvider> connectorProviderClass)
+            throws IllegalAccessException, InstantiationException {
+        this.connectorProvider = connectorProviderClass.newInstance();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected Application configure() {
+        return new ResourceConfig();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void configureClient(ClientConfig config) {
+        config.connectorProvider(connectorProvider);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIPv4Address() {
+        try  {
+            target().request().get();
+        } catch (ProcessingException pe) {
+            if (connectorProvider instanceof JettyConnectorProvider) {
+                Assert.assertEquals("java.net.SocketException: Could not connect to /0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:9997",
+                        pe.getCause().getMessage());
+            } else {
+                Assert.assertTrue(pe.getCause().getMessage().contains("Protocol family unavailable"));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}