--- a/src/java.base/share/classes/java/net/Inet6Address.java	Wed Jan 24 23:01:57 2018 -0800
+++ b/src/java.base/share/classes/java/net/Inet6Address.java	Thu Jan 25 16:22:52 2018 +0530
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2000, 2017, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@
         }
 
         ObjectInputStream.GetField gf = s.readFields();
-        byte[] ipaddress = (byte[])gf.get("ipaddress", null);
+        byte[] ipaddress = (byte[])gf.get("ipaddress", new byte[0]);
         int scope_id = gf.get("scope_id", -1);
         boolean scope_id_set = gf.get("scope_id_set", false);
         boolean scope_ifname_set = gf.get("scope_ifname_set", false);