diff --git a/lib/facter/erl_ssl_path.rb b/lib/facter/erl_ssl_path.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c6955de44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/facter/erl_ssl_path.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Fact to get the ssl path for the erlang distribution in the current
+# system as described in the RabbitMQ docs [1].
+#
+# [1] https://www.rabbitmq.com/clustering-ssl.html
+Facter.add('erl_ssl_path') do
+  setcode do
+    data = false
+    if Facter::Util::Resolution.which('erl')
+      Facter::Util::Resolution.with_env('HOME' => '/root') do
+        data = Facter::Core::Execution.execute("erl -eval 'io:format(\"~p\", [code:lib_dir(ssl, ebin)]),halt().' -noshell")
+      end
+    end
+    # erl returns the string with quotes, strip them off
+    data.gsub!(/\A"|"\Z/, '')
+  end
+end
diff --git a/manifests/config.pp b/manifests/config.pp
index 1c5d84250..28c098823 100644
--- a/manifests/config.pp
+++ b/manifests/config.pp
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@
   $ipv6                        = $rabbitmq::ipv6
   $inetrc_config               = $rabbitmq::inetrc_config
   $inetrc_config_path          = $rabbitmq::inetrc_config_path
+  $ssl_erl_dist                = $rabbitmq::ssl_erl_dist
 
   if $ssl_only {
     $default_ssl_env_variables = {}
@@ -93,25 +94,37 @@
   # Handle env variables.
   $_environment_variables = $default_ssl_env_variables + $inetrc_env + $rabbitmq::environment_variables
 
-  if $ipv6 {
+  if $ipv6 or $ssl_erl_dist {
     # must append "-proto_dist inet6_tcp" to any provided ERL_ARGS for
     # both the server and rabbitmqctl, being careful not to mess up
-    # quoting
-    $ipv6_env = ['SERVER', 'CTL'].reduce({}) |$memo, $item| {
+    # quoting. If both IPv6 and TLS are enabled, we must use "inet6_tls".
+    # Finally, if only TLS is enabled (no IPv6), the -proto_dist value to use
+    # is "inet_tls".
+    if $ipv6 and $ssl_erl_dist {
+      $proto_dist = 'inet6_tls'
+      $ssl_path = " -pa ${::erl_ssl_path} "
+    } elsif $ssl_erl_dist {
+      $proto_dist = 'inet_tls'
+      $ssl_path = " -pa ${::erl_ssl_path} "
+    } else {
+      $proto_dist = 'inet6_tcp'
+      $ssl_path = ''
+    }
+    $ipv6_or_tls_env = ['SERVER', 'CTL'].reduce({}) |$memo, $item| {
       $orig = $_environment_variables["RABBITMQ_${item}_ERL_ARGS"]
       $munged = $orig ? {
         # already quoted, keep quoting
-        /^([\'\"])(.*)\1/ => "${1}${2} -proto_dist inet6_tcp${1}",
+        /^([\'\"])(.*)\1/ => "${1}${2}${ssl_path} -proto_dist ${proto_dist}${1}",
         # unset, add our own quoted value
-        undef             => '"-proto_dist inet6_tcp"',
+        undef             => "\"${ssl_path}-proto_dist ${proto_dist}\"",
         # previously unquoted value, add quoting
-        default           => "\"${orig} -proto_dist inet6_tcp\"",
+        default           => "\"${orig}${ssl_path} -proto_dist ${proto_dist}\"",
       }
 
       merge($memo, {"RABBITMQ_${item}_ERL_ARGS" => $munged})
     }
 
-    $environment_variables = $_environment_variables + $ipv6_env
+    $environment_variables = $_environment_variables + $ipv6_or_tls_env
   } else {
     $environment_variables = $_environment_variables
   }
diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index ca660e599..aa49bec08 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@
   Boolean $ipv6                                  = $rabbitmq::params::ipv6,
   String $inetrc_config                          = $rabbitmq::params::inetrc_config,
   Stdlib::Absolutepath $inetrc_config_path       = $rabbitmq::params::inetrc_config_path,
+  Boolean $ssl_erl_dist                          = $rabbitmq::params::ssl_erl_dist,
 ) inherits rabbitmq::params {
 
   # Validate install parameters.
diff --git a/manifests/params.pp b/manifests/params.pp
index 1b91d3d29..46a09a2f9 100644
--- a/manifests/params.pp
+++ b/manifests/params.pp
@@ -114,4 +114,5 @@
   $ipv6                        = false
   $inetrc_config               = 'rabbitmq/inetrc.erb'
   $inetrc_config_path          = '/etc/rabbitmq/inetrc'
+  $ssl_erl_dist                = false
 }
diff --git a/spec/classes/rabbitmq_spec.rb b/spec/classes/rabbitmq_spec.rb
index 3cbda3d4b..be3171d5f 100644
--- a/spec/classes/rabbitmq_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/rabbitmq_spec.rb
@@ -1018,6 +1018,49 @@
               with_content(%r{^RABBITMQ_CTL_ERL_ARGS="bar -proto_dist inet6_tcp"$})
           end
         end
+
+        context 'with SSL and without other erl args' do
+          let(:params) {
+            { :ipv6         => true,
+              :ssl_erl_dist => true }
+          }
+          it 'enables inet6 distribution' do
+            is_expected.to contain_file('rabbitmq-env.config') \
+              .with_content(%r{^RABBITMQ_SERVER_ERL_ARGS=" -pa /usr/lib64/erlang/lib/ssl-7.3.3.1/ebin -proto_dist inet6_tls"$}) \
+              .with_content(%r{^RABBITMQ_CTL_ERL_ARGS=" -pa /usr/lib64/erlang/lib/ssl-7.3.3.1/ebin -proto_dist inet6_tls"$})
+          end
+        end
+
+        context 'with SSL and other quoted erl args' do
+          let(:params) {
+            { :ipv6         => true,
+              :ssl_erl_dist => true,
+              :environment_variables => { 'RABBITMQ_SERVER_ERL_ARGS' => '"some quoted args"',
+                                          'RABBITMQ_CTL_ERL_ARGS'    => '"other quoted args"'} }
+          }
+
+          it 'enables inet6 distribution and quote properly' do
+            is_expected.to contain_file('rabbitmq-env.config') \
+              .with_content(%r{^RABBITMQ_SERVER_ERL_ARGS="some quoted args -pa /usr/lib64/erlang/lib/ssl-7.3.3.1/ebin  -proto_dist inet6_tls"$}) \
+              .with_content(%r{^RABBITMQ_CTL_ERL_ARGS="other quoted args -pa /usr/lib64/erlang/lib/ssl-7.3.3.1/ebin  -proto_dist inet6_tls"$})
+          end
+        end
+
+        context 'with SSL and with other unquoted erl args' do
+          let(:params) {
+            { :ipv6         => true,
+              :ssl_erl_dist => true,
+              :environment_variables => { 'RABBITMQ_SERVER_ERL_ARGS' => 'foo',
+                                          'RABBITMQ_CTL_ERL_ARGS'    => 'bar'} }
+          }
+
+          it 'enables inet6 distribution and quote properly' do
+            is_expected.to contain_file('rabbitmq-env.config') \
+              .with_content(%r{^RABBITMQ_SERVER_ERL_ARGS="foo -pa /usr/lib64/erlang/lib/ssl-7.3.3.1/ebin  -proto_dist inet6_tls"$}) \
+              .with_content(%r{^RABBITMQ_CTL_ERL_ARGS="bar -pa /usr/lib64/erlang/lib/ssl-7.3.3.1/ebin  -proto_dist inet6_tls"$})
+          end
+
+        end
       end
 
       describe 'config_variables options' do
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper_local.rb b/spec/spec_helper_local.rb
index 2d2bc27c1..a3b29b4a9 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper_local.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper_local.rb
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@
 add_custom_fact :puppetversion, Puppet.version      # Facter, but excluded from rspec-puppet-facts
 add_custom_fact :staging_http_get, ''               # puppet-staging
 add_custom_fact :rabbitmq_version, '3.6.1'          # puppet-rabbitmq
+add_custom_fact :erl_ssl_path, '/usr/lib64/erlang/lib/ssl-7.3.3.1/ebin'          # puppet-rabbitmq