diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/Bugfix_ipv4_hex.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/Bugfix_ipv4_hex.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc39f68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/Bugfix_ipv4_hex.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+bugfixes:
+  - Validate input for ipv4_hex(https://github.com/ansible-collections/ansible.utils/issues/281)
diff --git a/plugins/filter/ip4_hex.py b/plugins/filter/ip4_hex.py
index 05621f7..4c691a7 100644
--- a/plugins/filter/ip4_hex.py
+++ b/plugins/filter/ip4_hex.py
@@ -110,6 +110,11 @@ def _ip4_hex(*args, **kwargs):
 
 def ip4_hex(arg, delimiter=""):
     """Convert an IPv4 address to Hexadecimal notation"""
+    try:
+        ip = netaddr.IPAddress(arg)
+    except (netaddr.AddrFormatError, ValueError):
+        msg = "You must pass a valid IP address; {0} is invalid".format(arg)
+        raise AnsibleFilterError(msg)
     numbers = list(map(int, arg.split(".")))
     return "{0:02x}{sep}{1:02x}{sep}{2:02x}{sep}{3:02x}".format(*numbers, sep=delimiter)
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/utils_ipaddr_filter/tasks/ip4_hex.yaml b/tests/integration/targets/utils_ipaddr_filter/tasks/ip4_hex.yaml
index 87ac5b1..697eefa 100644
--- a/tests/integration/targets/utils_ipaddr_filter/tasks/ip4_hex.yaml
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/utils_ipaddr_filter/tasks/ip4_hex.yaml
@@ -14,3 +14,13 @@
 - name: Assert result for ip4_hex.
   ansible.builtin.assert:
     that: "{{ result1 == 'c0:a8:01:05' }}"
+
+- name: Ip4_hex validate input
+  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
+    result1: "{{ '555.444.333.999' | ansible.utils.ip4_hex }}"
+  register: output
+  ignore_errors: true
+
+- name: Assert result for ip4_hex.
+  ansible.builtin.assert:
+    that: "{{ 'You must pass a valid IP address; 555.444.333.999 is invalid' in output.msg }}"