diff --git a/build.gradle.kts b/build.gradle.kts
index 532465f..207ea5e 100644
--- a/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/build.gradle.kts
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ object Extras {
     // set for the project
     const val description = "Utilities for managing network configurations, IP/MAC address conversion, and ping (via OS native commands)"
     const val group = "com.dorkbox"
-    const val version = "1.3"
+    const val version = "1.4"
 
     // set as project.ext
     const val name = "NetworkUtils"
diff --git a/src/dorkbox/netUtil/IP.kt b/src/dorkbox/netUtil/IP.kt
index 03a9484..4c9cf29 100644
--- a/src/dorkbox/netUtil/IP.kt
+++ b/src/dorkbox/netUtil/IP.kt
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 package dorkbox.netUtil
 
 import dorkbox.netUtil.Common.logger
-import java.net.*
+import java.net.Inet4Address
+import java.net.Inet6Address
+import java.net.InetAddress
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress
+import java.net.NetworkInterface
+import java.net.SocketException
 
 /**
  * A class that holds a number of network-related constants, also from:
@@ -213,7 +218,7 @@ object IP {
         val sb: StringBuilder
 
         sb = if (addr.isUnresolved) {
-            val hostname = getHostname(addr)
+            val hostname = addr.hostString
             newSocketAddressStringBuilder(hostname, port, !IPv6.isValid(hostname))
         } else {
             val address = addr.address
@@ -257,19 +262,9 @@ object IP {
      */
     fun getByName(ip: String): InetAddress? {
         return if (IPv4.isValid(ip)) {
-            IPv4.getByName(ip)
+            IPv4.getByNameUnsafe(ip)
         } else {
             IPv6.getByName(ip)
         }
     }
-
-    /**
-     * Returns [InetSocketAddress.getHostString] if Java >= 7,
-     * or [InetSocketAddress.getHostName] otherwise.
-     * @param addr The address
-     * @return the host string
-     */
-    fun getHostname(addr: InetSocketAddress): String {
-        return addr.hostString
-    }
 }
diff --git a/src/dorkbox/netUtil/IPv4.kt b/src/dorkbox/netUtil/IPv4.kt
index 35185ff..d77dc9a 100644
--- a/src/dorkbox/netUtil/IPv4.kt
+++ b/src/dorkbox/netUtil/IPv4.kt
@@ -727,6 +727,19 @@ object IPv4 {
         return address
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the [Inet4Address] representation of a [String] IP address.
+     *
+     * This method will treat all IPv4 type addresses as "IPv4 mapped" (see [.getByName])
+     *
+     * @param ip [String] IP address to be converted to a [Inet4Address]
+     * @return [Inet4Address] representation of the `ip` or `null` if not a valid IP address.
+     */
+    fun getByNameUnsafe(ip: String): Inet4Address {
+        val asBytes = toBytes(ip)
+        return Inet4Address.getByAddress(ip, asBytes) as Inet4Address
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns the [Inet4Address] representation of a [String] IP address.
      *
@@ -737,8 +750,7 @@ object IPv4 {
      */
     fun getByName(ip: String): Inet4Address? {
         return if (isValid(ip)) {
-            val asBytes = toBytes(ip)
-            return Inet4Address.getByAddress(ip, asBytes) as Inet4Address
+            return getByNameUnsafe(ip)
         } else {
             null
         }