diff --git a/apps/emqx_machine/src/emqx_machine.erl b/apps/emqx_machine/src/emqx_machine.erl
index 5931413cb..36635d50e 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_machine/src/emqx_machine.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_machine/src/emqx_machine.erl
@@ -195,7 +195,8 @@ do_check({Node, #{resolved_ips := [IP | _]} = Plan}) ->
 node_to_ips(Node) ->
     NodeBin0 = atom_to_binary(Node),
     HostOrIP = re:replace(NodeBin0, <<"^.+@">>, <<"">>, [{return, list}]),
-    case inet:gethostbyname(HostOrIP, inet) of
+    AddressType = resolve_dist_address_type(),
+    case inet:gethostbyname(HostOrIP, AddressType) of
         {ok, #hostent{h_addr_list = AddrList}} ->
             AddrList;
         _ ->
@@ -210,3 +211,18 @@ is_tcp_port_open(IP, Port) ->
         _ ->
             false
     end.
+
+resolve_dist_address_type() ->
+    ProtoDistStr = os:getenv("EKKA_PROTO_DIST_MOD", "inet_tcp"),
+    case ProtoDistStr of
+        "inet_tcp" ->
+            inet;
+        "inet6_tcp" ->
+            inet6;
+        "inet_tls" ->
+            inet;
+        "inet6_tls" ->
+            inet6;
+        _ ->
+            inet
+    end.
diff --git a/apps/emqx_machine/test/emqx_machine_SUITE.erl b/apps/emqx_machine/test/emqx_machine_SUITE.erl
index 3c84194da..2e3b85442 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_machine/test/emqx_machine_SUITE.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_machine/test/emqx_machine_SUITE.erl
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ t_open_ports_check(Config) ->
     ok = emqx_cth_cluster:stop_node(Core2),
 
     ?assertEqual(ok, erpc:call(Replicant, emqx_machine, open_ports_check, [])),
+    Results = erpc:call(Core1, emqx_machine, open_ports_check, []),
     ?assertMatch(
         #{
             msg := "some ports are unreachable",
@@ -159,18 +160,21 @@ t_open_ports_check(Config) ->
                 #{
                     Core2 :=
                         #{
-                            open_ports := #{
-                                GenRPCPort := _,
-                                EkkaPort := _
-                            },
+                            open_ports := #{},
                             ports_to_check := [_, _],
                             resolved_ips := [_],
                             status := bad_ports
                         }
                 }
         },
-        erpc:call(Core1, emqx_machine, open_ports_check, []),
-        #{core2 => Core2}
+        Results,
+        #{core2 => Core2, gen_rpc_port => GenRPCPort, ekka_port => EkkaPort}
+    ),
+    %% 2 ports to check; we don't assert the exact ekka port because, when running
+    %% multiple nodes on the same machine as we do in tests, the order of returned ports
+    %% might change between invocations.
+    NumPorts = 2,
+    ?assertEqual(
+        NumPorts, map_size(emqx_utils_maps:deep_get([results, Core2, open_ports], Results))
     ),
-
     ok.