diff --git a/gms/inet_address_serializer.hh b/gms/inet_address_serializer.hh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..695203f924
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gms/inet_address_serializer.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2019 ScyllaDB
+ */
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Scylla.
+ *
+ * See the LICENSE.PROPRIETARY file in the top-level directory for licensing information.
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include "inet_address.hh"
+#include "serializer.hh"
+
+namespace ser {
+
+/**
+ * Manual definition of inet_address serialization.
+ * Because inet_address was initially hardcoded to
+ * ipv4, its wire format is not very forward compatible.
+ *
+ * Since we potentially need to communicate with older
+ * version nodes, we manually define the new serial format
+ * for inet_address to be:
+ *
+ * ipv4: 4  bytes address
+ * ipv6: 4  bytes marker 0xffffffff (invalid address)
+ *       16 bytes data -> address
+ *
+ * As long as we are restricted to ipv4 (config/user responsibility)
+ * we will be able to swap gossip with older nodes. Once the
+ * cluster is fully updated, user can enable ipv6 and we will be
+ * happy and addressing all the molecules.
+ *
+ */
+template<>
+struct serializer<gms::inet_address> {
+    template<typename Input>
+    static gms::inet_address read(Input& in) {
+        auto sz = deserialize(in, boost::type<uint32_t>());
+        if (sz == std::numeric_limits<uint32_t>::max()) {
+            seastar::net::ipv6_address addr(deserialize(in, boost::type<net::ipv6_address::ipv6_bytes>()));
+            return gms::inet_address(addr);
+        }
+        return gms::inet_address(sz);
+    }
+    template<typename Output>
+    static void write(Output& out, gms::inet_address v) {
+        auto& addr = v.addr();
+        if (addr.is_ipv6()) {
+            serialize(out, std::numeric_limits<uint32_t>::max());
+            auto bv = v.bytes();
+            out.write(reinterpret_cast<const char *>(bv.data()), bv.size());
+        } else {
+            uint32_t ip = addr.as_ipv4_address().ip;
+            // must write this little (or rather host) endian
+            serialize(out, ip);
+        }
+    }
+    template<typename Input>
+    static void skip(Input& v) {
+        read(v);
+    }
+};
+
+
+}
diff --git a/idl/gossip_digest.idl.hh b/idl/gossip_digest.idl.hh
index a57ae6c980..c82928c804 100644
--- a/idl/gossip_digest.idl.hh
+++ b/idl/gossip_digest.idl.hh
@@ -38,10 +38,6 @@ enum class application_state:int {
         SUPPORTED_FEATURES
 };
 
-class inet_address final {
-  uint32_t raw_addr();
-};
-
 class versioned_value {
     sstring value;
     int version;
diff --git a/message/messaging_service.cc b/message/messaging_service.cc
index add6e70e3d..6dcdee7a5f 100644
--- a/message/messaging_service.cc
+++ b/message/messaging_service.cc
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <seastar/core/distributed.hh>
 #include "gms/failure_detector.hh"
 #include "gms/gossiper.hh"
+#include "gms/inet_address_serializer.hh"
 #include "service/storage_service.hh"
 #include "streaming/prepare_message.hh"
 #include "gms/gossip_digest_syn.hh"