diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 3d854fb3..087bc631 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2005-03-19  Thomas Graf <tgraf@suug.ch>
+
+	* Warn about wildcard deletions and provide IFA_ADDRESS upon
+	  deletions to enforce prefix length validation for IPv4.
+
 2005-03-30  Masahide NAKAMURA <nakam@linux-ipv6.org>
 	
 	* ipv6 xfrm allocspi and monitor support.
diff --git a/include/utils.h b/include/utils.h
index 906e3941..ddbf97c4 100644
--- a/include/utils.h
+++ b/include/utils.h
@@ -43,9 +43,12 @@ typedef struct
 	__u8 family;
 	__u8 bytelen;
 	__s16 bitlen;
+	__u32 flags;
 	__u32 data[4];
 } inet_prefix;
 
+#define PREFIXLEN_SPECIFIED 1
+
 #define DN_MAXADDL 20
 #ifndef AF_DECnet
 #define AF_DECnet 12
diff --git a/ip/ipaddress.c b/ip/ipaddress.c
index 92f0089e..e8405f79 100644
--- a/ip/ipaddress.c
+++ b/ip/ipaddress.c
@@ -744,6 +744,7 @@ int ipaddr_modify(int cmd, int argc, char **argv)
 	} req;
 	char  *d = NULL;
 	char  *l = NULL;
+	char  *lcl_arg = NULL;
 	inet_prefix lcl;
 	inet_prefix peer;
 	int local_len = 0;
@@ -821,6 +822,7 @@ int ipaddr_modify(int cmd, int argc, char **argv)
 				usage();
 			if (local_len)
 				duparg2("local", *argv);
+			lcl_arg = *argv;
 			get_prefix(&lcl, *argv, req.ifa.ifa_family);
 			if (req.ifa.ifa_family == AF_UNSPEC)
 				req.ifa.ifa_family = lcl.family;
@@ -838,9 +840,17 @@ int ipaddr_modify(int cmd, int argc, char **argv)
 		exit(1);
 	}
 
-	if (peer_len == 0 && local_len && cmd != RTM_DELADDR) {
-		peer = lcl;
-		addattr_l(&req.n, sizeof(req), IFA_ADDRESS, &lcl.data, lcl.bytelen);
+	if (peer_len == 0 && local_len) {
+		if (cmd == RTM_DELADDR && lcl.family == AF_INET && !(lcl.flags & PREFIXLEN_SPECIFIED)) {
+			fprintf(stderr,
+			    "Warning: Executing wildcard deletion to stay compatible with old scripts.\n" \
+			    "         Explicitly specify the prefix length (%s/%d) to avoid this warning.\n" \
+			    "         This special behaviour is likely to disappear in further releases,\n" \
+			    "         fix your scripts!\n", lcl_arg, local_len*8);
+		} else {
+			peer = lcl;
+			addattr_l(&req.n, sizeof(req), IFA_ADDRESS, &lcl.data, lcl.bytelen);
+		}
 	}
 	if (req.ifa.ifa_prefixlen == 0)
 		req.ifa.ifa_prefixlen = lcl.bitlen;
diff --git a/lib/utils.c b/lib/utils.c
index 73ce865d..df8795a2 100644
--- a/lib/utils.c
+++ b/lib/utils.c
@@ -241,6 +241,7 @@ int get_prefix_1(inet_prefix *dst, char *arg, int family)
 				err = -1;
 				goto done;
 			}
+			dst->flags |= PREFIXLEN_SPECIFIED;
 			dst->bitlen = plen;
 		}
 	}