diff --git a/Doc/library/http.server.rst b/Doc/library/http.server.rst
index 2281c302917..300e332910b 100644
--- a/Doc/library/http.server.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/http.server.rst
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ of which this module provides three different variants:
       to create custom error logging mechanisms. The *format* argument is a
       standard printf-style format string, where the additional arguments to
       :meth:`log_message` are applied as inputs to the formatting. The client
-      address and current date and time are prefixed to every message logged.
+      ip address and current date and time are prefixed to every message logged.
 
    .. method:: version_string()
 
diff --git a/Lib/http/server.py b/Lib/http/server.py
index 80f58e68094..5569037427d 100644
--- a/Lib/http/server.py
+++ b/Lib/http/server.py
@@ -508,13 +508,13 @@ class BaseHTTPRequestHandler(socketserver.StreamRequestHandler):
         specified as subsequent arguments (it's just like
         printf!).
 
-        The client host and current date/time are prefixed to
+        The client ip and current date/time are prefixed to
         every message.
 
         """
 
         sys.stderr.write("%s - - [%s] %s\n" %
-                         (self.address_string(),
+                         (self.client_address[0],
                           self.log_date_time_string(),
                           format%args))