diff --git a/src/utils/net.py b/src/utils/net.py
index 96f2f7ec5..bddddc829 100644
--- a/src/utils/net.py
+++ b/src/utils/net.py
@@ -36,13 +36,14 @@ import socket
 
 emailRe = re.compile(r"^(\w&.+-]+!)*[\w&.+-]+@"
                      r"(([0-9a-z]([0-9a-z-]*[0-9a-z])?\.)[a-z]{2,6}|"
-                     r"([0-9]{1,3}\.){3}[0-9]{1,3})$", re.I) 
+                     r"([0-9]{1,3}\.){3}[0-9]{1,3})$", re.I)
 
 def getSocket(host):
     """Returns a socket of the correct AF_INET type (v4 or v6) in order to
     communicate with host.
     """
-    host = socket.gethostbyname(host)
+    addrinfo = socket.getaddrinfo(host, None)
+    host = addrinfo[0][4][0]
     if isIP(host):
         return socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
     elif isIPV6(host):