diff --git a/src/include/ipxe/in.h b/src/include/ipxe/in.h
index a1821b1f..a37784e2 100644
--- a/src/include/ipxe/in.h
+++ b/src/include/ipxe/in.h
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ struct sockaddr_in6 {
 
 extern int inet_aton ( const char *cp, struct in_addr *inp );
 extern char * inet_ntoa ( struct in_addr in );
-extern char * inet6_ntoa ( const struct in6_addr *in6 );
+extern int inet6_aton ( const char *string, struct in6_addr *in );
+extern char * inet6_ntoa ( const struct in6_addr *in );
 
 #endif	/* _IPXE_IN_H */
diff --git a/src/net/ipv6.c b/src/net/ipv6.c
index 69feba19..8dc251ba 100644
--- a/src/net/ipv6.c
+++ b/src/net/ipv6.c
@@ -622,11 +622,80 @@ static int ipv6_rx ( struct io_buffer *iobuf, struct net_device *netdev,
 	return rc;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Parse IPv6 address
+ *
+ * @v string		IPv6 address string
+ * @ret in		IPv6 address to fill in
+ * @ret rc		Return status code
+ */
+int inet6_aton ( const char *string, struct in6_addr *in ) {
+	uint16_t *word = in->s6_addr16;
+	uint16_t *end = ( word + ( sizeof ( in->s6_addr16 ) /
+				   sizeof ( in->s6_addr16[0] ) ) );
+	uint16_t *pad = NULL;
+	const char *nptr = string;
+	char *endptr;
+	unsigned long value;
+	size_t pad_len;
+	size_t move_len;
+
+	/* Parse string */
+	while ( 1 ) {
+
+		/* Parse current word */
+		value = strtoul ( nptr, &endptr, 16 );
+		if ( value > 0xffff ) {
+			DBG ( "IPv6 invalid word value %#lx in \"%s\"\n",
+			      value, string );
+			return -EINVAL;
+		}
+		*(word++) = htons ( value );
+
+		/* Parse separator */
+		if ( ! *endptr )
+			break;
+		if ( *endptr != ':' ) {
+			DBG ( "IPv6 invalid separator '%c' in \"%s\"\n",
+			      *endptr, string );
+			return -EINVAL;
+		}
+		if ( ( endptr == nptr ) && ( nptr != string ) ) {
+			if ( pad ) {
+				DBG ( "IPv6 invalid multiple \"::\" in "
+				      "\"%s\"\n", string );
+				return -EINVAL;
+			}
+			pad = word;
+		}
+		nptr = ( endptr + 1 );
+
+		/* Check for overrun */
+		if ( word == end ) {
+			DBG ( "IPv6 too many words in \"%s\"\n", string );
+			return -EINVAL;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* Insert padding if specified */
+	if ( pad ) {
+		move_len = ( ( ( void * ) word ) - ( ( void * ) pad ) );
+		pad_len = ( ( ( void * ) end ) - ( ( void * ) word ) );
+		memmove ( ( ( ( void * ) pad ) + pad_len ), pad, move_len );
+		memset ( pad, 0, pad_len );
+	} else if ( word != end ) {
+		DBG ( "IPv6 underlength address \"%s\"\n", string );
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /**
  * Convert IPv6 address to standard notation
  *
- * @v in	IPv6 address
- * @ret string	IPv6 address in standard notation
+ * @v in		IPv6 address
+ * @ret string		IPv6 address string in canonical format
  *
  * RFC5952 defines the canonical format for IPv6 textual representation.
  */
@@ -672,8 +741,8 @@ char * inet6_ntoa ( const struct in6_addr *in ) {
 /**
  * Transcribe IPv6 address
  *
- * @v net_addr	IPv6 address
- * @ret string	IPv6 address in standard notation
+ * @v net_addr		IPv6 address
+ * @ret string		IPv6 address in standard notation
  *
  */
 static const char * ipv6_ntoa ( const void *net_addr ) {
diff --git a/src/tests/ipv6_test.c b/src/tests/ipv6_test.c
index 10e964d9..4de310ab 100644
--- a/src/tests/ipv6_test.c
+++ b/src/tests/ipv6_test.c
@@ -60,6 +60,37 @@ FILE_LICENCE ( GPL2_OR_LATER );
 	ok ( strcmp ( actual, expected ) == 0 );			\
 	} while ( 0 )
 
+/**
+ * Report an inet6_aton() test result
+ *
+ * @v text		Textual representation
+ * @v addr		Expected IPv6 address
+ */
+#define inet6_aton_ok( text, addr ) do {				\
+	static const char string[] = text;				\
+	static const struct in6_addr expected = {			\
+		.s6_addr = addr,					\
+	};								\
+	struct in6_addr actual;						\
+									\
+	ok ( inet6_aton ( string, &actual ) == 0 );			\
+	DBG ( "inet6_aton ( \"%s\" ) = %s\n", string,			\
+	      inet6_ntoa ( &actual ) );					\
+	ok ( memcmp ( &actual, &expected, sizeof ( actual ) ) == 0 );	\
+	} while ( 0 )
+
+/**
+ * Report an inet6_aton() failure test result
+ *
+ * @v text		Textual representation
+ */
+#define inet6_aton_fail_ok( text ) do {					\
+	static const char string[] = text;				\
+	struct in6_addr dummy;						\
+									\
+	ok ( inet6_aton ( string, &dummy ) != 0 );			\
+	} while ( 0 )
+
 /**
  * Perform IPv6 self-tests
  *
@@ -106,6 +137,41 @@ static void ipv6_test_exec ( void ) {
 	inet6_ntoa_ok ( IPV6 ( 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff,
 			       0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff ),
 			"ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff" );
+
+	/* inet6_aton() tests */
+	inet6_aton_ok ( "2001:ba8:0:1d4::6950:5845",
+			IPV6 ( 0x20, 0x01, 0x0b, 0xa8, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0xd4,
+			       0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x69, 0x50, 0x58, 0x45));
+	/* No zeros */
+	inet6_aton_ok ( "2001:db8:1:1:1:1:1:1",
+			IPV6 ( 0x20, 0x01, 0x0d, 0xb8, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01,
+			       0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01));
+	/* All intervening zeros */
+	inet6_aton_ok ( "fe80::1",
+			IPV6 ( 0xfe, 0x80, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+			       0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01));
+	/* Trailing run of zeros */
+	inet6_aton_ok ( "fe80::",
+			IPV6 ( 0xfe, 0x80, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+			       0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00));
+	/* Leading run of zeros */
+	inet6_aton_ok ( "::1",
+			IPV6 ( 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+			       0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01));
+	/* All zeros */
+	inet6_aton_ok ( "::",
+			IPV6 ( 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+			       0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00));
+
+	/* inet6_aton() failure tests */
+	inet6_aton_fail_ok ( "20012:ba8:0:1d4::6950:5845" );
+	inet6_aton_fail_ok ( "200z:ba8:0:1d4::6950:5845" );
+	inet6_aton_fail_ok ( "2001.ba8:0:1d4::6950:5845" );
+	inet6_aton_fail_ok ( "2001:db8:1:1:1:1:1" );
+	inet6_aton_fail_ok ( "2001:db8:1:1:1:1:1:1:2" );
+	inet6_aton_fail_ok ( "2001:db8::1::2" );
+	inet6_aton_fail_ok ( "2001:ba8:0:1d4:::6950:5845" );
+	inet6_aton_fail_ok ( ":::" );
 }
 
 /** IPv6 self-test */