diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f5fc785d..77f3bdb9 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "bs58": "^4.0.1",
     "ip": "^1.1.5",
+    "ip-address": "^5.8.9",
     "lodash.filter": "^4.6.0",
     "lodash.map": "^4.6.0",
     "varint": "^5.0.0",
diff --git a/src/convert.js b/src/convert.js
index 30bb527a..b646fb16 100644
--- a/src/convert.js
+++ b/src/convert.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 'use strict'
 
 const ip = require('ip')
+const ipAddress = require('ip-address')
 const protocols = require('./protocols-table')
 const bs58 = require('bs58')
 const varint = require('varint')
@@ -45,8 +46,9 @@ Convert.toBuffer = function convertToBuffer (proto, str) {
   proto = protocols(proto)
   switch (proto.code) {
     case 4: // ipv4
+      return ip2buf(new ipAddress.Address4(str))
     case 41: // ipv6
-      return ip.toBuffer(str)
+      return ip2buf(new ipAddress.Address6(str))
 
     case 6: // tcp
     case 17: // udp
@@ -66,6 +68,11 @@ Convert.toBuffer = function convertToBuffer (proto, str) {
   }
 }
 
+function ip2buf (ipaddr) {
+  if (!ipaddr.isValid()) throw new Error('invalid ip address')
+  return ip.toBuffer(ipaddr.address)
+}
+
 function port2buf (port) {
   const buf = Buffer.alloc(2)
   buf.writeUInt16BE(port, 0)
diff --git a/test/convert.spec.js b/test/convert.spec.js
index 2d924359..e53c0a0f 100644
--- a/test/convert.spec.js
+++ b/test/convert.spec.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ const expect = chai.expect
 chai.use(dirtyChai)
 
 describe('convert', () => {
-  it('handles buffers', () => {
+  it('handles ip4 buffers', () => {
     expect(
       convert('ip4', Buffer.from('c0a80001', 'hex'))
     ).to.eql(
@@ -16,7 +16,23 @@ describe('convert', () => {
     )
   })
 
-  it('handles strings', () => {
+  it('handles ip6 buffers', () => {
+    expect(
+      convert('ip6', Buffer.from('abcd0000000100020003000400050006', 'hex'))
+    ).to.eql(
+      'abcd:0:1:2:3:4:5:6'
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('handles ipv6 strings', () => {
+    expect(
+      convert('ip6', 'ABCD::1:2:3:4:5:6')
+    ).to.eql(
+      Buffer.from('ABCD0000000100020003000400050006', 'hex')
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('handles ip4 strings', () => {
     expect(
       convert('ip4', '192.168.0.1')
     ).to.eql(
@@ -24,6 +40,22 @@ describe('convert', () => {
     )
   })
 
+  it('throws on invalid ip4 conversion', () => {
+    expect(
+      () => convert('ip4', '555.168.0.1')
+    ).to.throw(
+      /invalid ip address/
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('throws on invalid ip6 conversion', () => {
+    expect(
+      () => convert('ip6', 'FFFF::GGGG')
+    ).to.throw(
+      /invalid ip address/
+    )
+  })
+
   describe('.toBuffer', () => {
     it('defaults to hex conversion', () => {
       expect(