diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_read_write_util.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_read_write_util.py
index 468d8b213a..28cd6a95ec 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_read_write_util.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_read_write_util.py
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@
 #    under the License.
 
 import httplib
+import urllib2
 
+import mock
 from oslo.config import cfg
 
 from nova import test
@@ -37,3 +39,22 @@ class ReadWriteUtilTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
                                                    0)
         self.assertEqual(ipv6_host, file.conn.host)
         self.assertEqual(443, file.conn.port)
+
+    @mock.patch.object(urllib2, 'Request',
+                       return_value='fake_request')
+    @mock.patch.object(urllib2, 'urlopen')
+    def test_ipv6_host_read(self, mock_open, mock_request):
+        ipv6_host = 'fd8c:215d:178e:c51e:200:c9ff:fed1:584c'
+        folder = 'tmp/fake.txt'
+        read_write_util.VMwareHTTPReadFile(ipv6_host,
+                                           'fake_dc',
+                                           'fake_ds',
+                                           dict(),
+                                           folder)
+        base_url = 'https://[%s]/folder/%s' % (ipv6_host, folder)
+        base_url += '?dsName=fake_ds&dcPath=fake_dc'
+        headers = {'Cookie': '', 'User-Agent': 'OpenStack-ESX-Adapter'}
+        mock_request.assert_called_with(base_url,
+                                        None,
+                                        headers)
+        mock_open.assert_called_with('fake_request')
diff --git a/nova/virt/vmwareapi/read_write_util.py b/nova/virt/vmwareapi/read_write_util.py
index ea3f57056b..a3c1816472 100644
--- a/nova/virt/vmwareapi/read_write_util.py
+++ b/nova/virt/vmwareapi/read_write_util.py
@@ -106,16 +106,22 @@ class VMwareHTTPFile(object):
         """Get size of the file to be read."""
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
+    def _get_base_url(self, scheme, host, file_path):
+        if utils.is_valid_ipv6(host):
+            base_url = "%s://[%s]/folder/%s" % (scheme, host,
+                                                urllib.pathname2url(file_path))
+        else:
+            base_url = "%s://%s/folder/%s" % (scheme, host,
+                                              urllib.pathname2url(file_path))
+        return base_url
+
 
 class VMwareHTTPWriteFile(VMwareHTTPFile):
     """VMware file write handler class."""
 
     def __init__(self, host, data_center_name, datastore_name, cookies,
                  file_path, file_size, scheme="https"):
-        if utils.is_valid_ipv6(host):
-            base_url = "%s://[%s]/folder/%s" % (scheme, host, file_path)
-        else:
-            base_url = "%s://%s/folder/%s" % (scheme, host, file_path)
+        base_url = self._get_base_url(scheme, host, file_path)
         param_list = {"dcPath": data_center_name, "dsName": datastore_name}
         base_url = base_url + "?" + urllib.urlencode(param_list)
         _urlparse = urlparse.urlparse(base_url)
@@ -151,8 +157,7 @@ class VMwareHTTPReadFile(VMwareHTTPFile):
 
     def __init__(self, host, data_center_name, datastore_name, cookies,
                  file_path, scheme="https"):
-        base_url = "%s://%s/folder/%s" % (scheme, host,
-                                          urllib.pathname2url(file_path))
+        base_url = self._get_base_url(scheme, host, file_path)
         param_list = {"dcPath": data_center_name, "dsName": datastore_name}
         base_url = base_url + "?" + urllib.urlencode(param_list)
         headers = {'User-Agent': USER_AGENT,