diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
index b7be5e7f47..1308b6921e 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
@@ -2577,8 +2577,12 @@ qemuMonitorMigrateToHost(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
 
     QEMU_CHECK_MONITOR(mon);
 
-    if (virAsprintf(&uri, "%s:%s:%d", protocol, hostname, port) < 0)
+    if (strchr(hostname, ':')) {
+        if (virAsprintf(&uri, "%s:[%s]:%d", protocol, hostname, port) < 0)
+            return -1;
+    } else if (virAsprintf(&uri, "%s:%s:%d", protocol, hostname, port) < 0) {
         return -1;
+    }
 
     if (mon->json)
         ret = qemuMonitorJSONMigrate(mon, flags, uri);