diff --git a/src/cas/io/bsdSocket/casDGIntfIO.cc b/src/cas/io/bsdSocket/casDGIntfIO.cc
index c76fb3bc5..9fb2b07d3 100644
--- a/src/cas/io/bsdSocket/casDGIntfIO.cc
+++ b/src/cas/io/bsdSocket/casDGIntfIO.cc
@@ -454,9 +454,14 @@ void casDGIntfIO::sendBeaconIO ( char & msg, unsigned length,
     {
         // disconnect so that bogus messages arriving at the ephemeral port
         // do not consume resources
+        //
+        // UDP disconnect to INADDR_LOOPBACK and port 0 because 
+        // a UDP connect to AF_UNSPEC only works with modern IP kernel
         osiSockAddr sockAddr;
         memset ( &sockAddr, 0, sizeof ( sockAddr ) );
-        sockAddr.sa.sa_family = AF_UNSPEC;
+        sockAddr.ia.sin_family = AF_INET;
+        sockAddr.ia.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_LOOPBACK;
+        sockAddr.ia.sin_port = 0;
         status = connect ( this->beaconSock,
 		        & sockAddr.sa, sizeof ( sockAddr.sa ) );
         if ( status < 0 ) {
diff --git a/src/rsrv/online_notify.c b/src/rsrv/online_notify.c
index 86fecdbe5..76ec06cad 100644
--- a/src/rsrv/online_notify.c
+++ b/src/rsrv/online_notify.c
@@ -268,7 +268,11 @@ void rsrv_online_notify_task(void *pParm)
              */
             osiSockAddr sockAddr;
             memset ( &sockAddr, 0, sizeof ( sockAddr ) );
-            sockAddr.sa.sa_family = AF_UNSPEC;
+            // connect to INADDR_LOOPBACK and port 0 because 
+            // connect to AF_UNSPEC only works with modern IP kernel
+            sockAddr.ia.sin_family = AF_INET;
+            sockAddr.ia.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_LOOPBACK;
+            sockAddr.ia.sin_port = 0;
             status = connect ( sock,
 		            & sockAddr.sa, sizeof ( sockAddr.sa ) );
             if ( status < 0 ) {