diff --git a/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb b/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb
index d70a041..414caa7 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb
@@ -85,14 +85,26 @@ module Mongo
       else
         opts = {}
       end
-
+      
       unless args.length > 0
         raise MongoArgumentError, "A ReplSetConnection requires at least one seed node."
       end
+      
+      # This is temporary until support for the old format is dropped
+      @seeds = []
+      if args.first.last.is_a?(Integer)
+        warn "Initiating a ReplSetConnection with seeds passed as individual [host, port] array arguments is deprecated."
+        warn "Please specify hosts as 'host:port' strings; the old format will be removed in v2.0"
+        @seeds = args
+      else
+        args.first.map do |host_port|
+          seed = host_port.split(":")
+          seed[1] = seed[1].to_i
+          seeds << seed
+        end
+      end
 
-      # The original, immutable list of seed node.
       # TODO: add a method for replacing this list of node.
-      @seeds = args
       @seeds.freeze
 
       # TODO: get rid of this
diff --git a/test/replica_sets/connect_test.rb b/test/replica_sets/connect_test.rb
index 45c2290..cf41aa2 100644
--- a/test/replica_sets/connect_test.rb
+++ b/test/replica_sets/connect_test.rb
@@ -108,6 +108,11 @@ class ConnectTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert @conn.is_a?(ReplSetConnection)
     assert @conn.connected?
   end
+  
+  def test_connect_with_new_seed_format
+    @conn = ReplSetConnection.new(["#{@rs.host}:#{@rs.ports[0]}','#{@rs.host}:#{@rs.ports[1]}','#{@rs.host}:#{@rs.ports[2]}"])
+    assert @conn.connected?
+  end
 
   def test_connect_with_full_connection_string
     @conn = Connection.from_uri("mongodb://#{@rs.host}:#{@rs.ports[0]},#{@rs.host}:#{@rs.ports[1]}?replicaset=#{@rs.name};safe=true;w=2;fsync=true;slaveok=true")