diff --git a/src/java.base/share/classes/java/net/Inet6Address.java b/src/java.base/share/classes/java/net/Inet6Address.java
index 0b612798f7c..8e1b0858bd4 100644
--- a/src/java.base/share/classes/java/net/Inet6Address.java
+++ b/src/java.base/share/classes/java/net/Inet6Address.java
@@ -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 @@ class Inet6Address extends InetAddress {
         }
 
         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);
diff --git a/test/jdk/java/net/Inet6Address/serialize/Inet6AddressSerTest.java b/test/jdk/java/net/Inet6Address/serialize/Inet6AddressSerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e96ba935fc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/jdk/java/net/Inet6Address/serialize/Inet6AddressSerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 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
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
+ * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
+ * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.DataOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InvalidObjectException;
+import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
+import java.io.ObjectStreamConstants;
+import static java.io.ObjectStreamConstants.STREAM_MAGIC;
+import static java.io.ObjectStreamConstants.TC_CLASSDESC;
+import static java.io.ObjectStreamConstants.TC_ENDBLOCKDATA;
+import static java.io.ObjectStreamConstants.TC_NULL;
+import static java.io.ObjectStreamConstants.TC_OBJECT;
+import java.net.Inet6Address;
+/**
+ * @test
+ * @bug 8194676
+ * @summary NullPointerException is thrown if ipaddress is not set.
+ * @run main Inet6AddressSerTest
+ */
+public class Inet6AddressSerTest implements ObjectStreamConstants {
+
+    static class PayloadTest {
+
+        private static byte[] serialize(String className) throws IOException {
+            try (ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+                    DataOutputStream dos = new DataOutputStream(baos)) {
+                // stream headers
+                dos.writeShort(STREAM_MAGIC);
+                dos.writeShort(5); // version
+
+                // Inet6Address
+                dos.writeByte(TC_OBJECT);
+                dos.writeByte(TC_CLASSDESC);
+                dos.writeUTF(className);
+                dos.writeLong(6880410070516793377L);
+                dos.writeByte(2);
+                dos.writeShort(0);
+                dos.writeByte(TC_ENDBLOCKDATA);
+                dos.writeByte(TC_NULL);
+                return baos.toByteArray();
+            }
+        }
+
+        private static Object deserialize(final byte[] buffer)
+                throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
+            try (ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(buffer))) {
+                return ois.readObject();
+            }
+        }
+
+        void test(String className) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
+            deserialize(serialize(className));
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
+        try {
+            new PayloadTest().test(Inet6Address.class.getName());
+            throw new RuntimeException("Expected exception not raised");
+        } catch (InvalidObjectException ioe) {
+            if (ioe.getMessage().contains("invalid address length")) {
+                System.out.println(String.format("Got expected exception: %s", ioe));
+            } else {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Expected exception not raised");
+            }
+        } catch (RuntimeException re) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Expected exception not raised");
+        }
+    }
+}