diff --git a/patches/systemvm/debian/config/root/edithosts.sh b/patches/systemvm/debian/config/root/edithosts.sh
index 817d72640b8..2d995861177 100755
--- a/patches/systemvm/debian/config/root/edithosts.sh
+++ b/patches/systemvm/debian/config/root/edithosts.sh
@@ -96,18 +96,11 @@ wait_for_dnsmasq () {
   return 1
 }
 
-if [ $ipv4 ]
-then
-    ip=$ipv4
-else
-    ip=$ipv6
-fi
-
-if [ $no_dhcp_release -eq 0 ]
+if [ "$ipv4" != '' -a $no_dhcp_release -eq 0 ]
 then
   #release previous dhcp lease if present
   logger -t cloud "edithosts: releasing $ipv4"
-  dhcp_release eth0 $ip $(grep $ip $DHCP_LEASES | awk '{print $2}') > /dev/null 2>&1
+  dhcp_release eth0 $ipv4 $(grep $ipv4 $DHCP_LEASES | awk '{print $2}') > /dev/null 2>&1
   logger -t cloud "edithosts: released $ipv4"
 fi
 
@@ -125,8 +118,7 @@ then
 fi
 if [ $ipv6 ]
 then
-  #searching with [$ipv6], matching other ip so using $ipv6],
-  sed -i  /$ipv6],/d $DHCP_HOSTS
+  sed -i  /$ipv6,/d $DHCP_HOSTS
 fi
 # don't want to do this in the future, we can have same VM with multiple nics/entries
 #sed -i  /$host,/d $DHCP_HOSTS