diff --git a/internal/snmp/wrapper.go b/internal/snmp/wrapper.go
index 065528506..c1dad9fe7 100644
--- a/internal/snmp/wrapper.go
+++ b/internal/snmp/wrapper.go
@@ -164,11 +164,14 @@ func (gs *GosnmpWrapper) SetAgent(agent string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// Only allow udp{4,6} and tcp{4,6}.
+	// Allowing ip{4,6} does not make sense as specifying a port
+	// requires the specification of a protocol.
+	// gosnmp does not handle these errors well, which is why
+	// they can result in cryptic errors by net.Dial.
 	switch u.Scheme {
-	case "tcp":
-		gs.Transport = "tcp"
-	case "", "udp":
-		gs.Transport = "udp"
+	case "tcp", "tcp4", "tcp6", "udp", "udp4", "udp6":
+		gs.Transport = u.Scheme
 	default:
 		return fmt.Errorf("unsupported scheme: %v", u.Scheme)
 	}
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/snmp/README.md b/plugins/inputs/snmp/README.md
index c4aa3367f..fa96150b9 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/snmp/README.md
+++ b/plugins/inputs/snmp/README.md
@@ -22,8 +22,13 @@ information.
 ```toml
 [[inputs.snmp]]
   ## Agent addresses to retrieve values from.
+  ##   format:  agents = ["<scheme://><hostname>:<port>"]
+  ##   scheme:  optional, either udp, udp4, udp6, tcp, tcp4, tcp6.  
+  ##            default is udp
+  ##   port:    optional
   ##   example: agents = ["udp://127.0.0.1:161"]
   ##            agents = ["tcp://127.0.0.1:161"]
+  ##            agents = ["udp4://v4only-snmp-agent"]
   agents = ["udp://127.0.0.1:161"]
 
   ## Timeout for each request.
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/snmp/snmp.go b/plugins/inputs/snmp/snmp.go
index 9aac89b8d..c1dda901b 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/snmp/snmp.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/snmp/snmp.go
@@ -25,8 +25,13 @@ import (
 const description = `Retrieves SNMP values from remote agents`
 const sampleConfig = `
   ## Agent addresses to retrieve values from.
+  ##   format:  agents = ["<scheme://><hostname>:<port>"]
+  ##   scheme:  optional, either udp, udp4, udp6, tcp, tcp4, tcp6.            
+  ##            default is udp
+  ##   port:    optional
   ##   example: agents = ["udp://127.0.0.1:161"]
   ##            agents = ["tcp://127.0.0.1:161"]
+  ##            agents = ["udp4://v4only-snmp-agent"]
   agents = ["udp://127.0.0.1:161"]
 
   ## Timeout for each request.
@@ -560,7 +565,8 @@ func (s *Snmp) getConnection(idx int) (snmpConnection, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	gs.SetAgent(agent)
+
+	err = gs.SetAgent(agent)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}