diff --git a/Lib/smtplib.py b/Lib/smtplib.py
index 71d25fda268..07916cc1b80 100755
--- a/Lib/smtplib.py
+++ b/Lib/smtplib.py
@@ -255,7 +255,11 @@ def __init__(self, host = '', port = 0, local_hostname = None):
                 self.local_hostname = fqdn
             else:
                 # We can't find an fqdn hostname, so use a domain literal
-                addr = socket.gethostbyname(socket.gethostname())
+                addr = '127.0.0.1'
+                try:
+                    addr = socket.gethostbyname(socket.gethostname())
+                except socket.gaierror:
+                    pass
                 self.local_hostname = '[%s]' % addr
 
     def set_debuglevel(self, debuglevel):