diff --git a/Lib/urllib.py b/Lib/urllib.py
index 32b4919..09a054b 100644
--- a/Lib/urllib.py
+++ b/Lib/urllib.py
@@ -819,7 +819,10 @@
     """Return the IP address of the current host."""
     global _thishost
     if _thishost is None:
-        _thishost = socket.gethostbyname(socket.gethostname())
+        try:
+            _thishost = socket.gethostbyname(socket.gethostname())
+        except socket.gaierror:
+            _thishost = socket.gethostbyname('localhost')
     return _thishost
 
 _ftperrors = None