diff --git a/kittens/hyperlinked_grep/main.py b/kittens/hyperlinked_grep/main.py
index c2c4fa801d4..b554e35dbaf 100755
--- a/kittens/hyperlinked_grep/main.py
+++ b/kittens/hyperlinked_grep/main.py
@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@
 import os
 import re
 import signal
-import socket
 import subprocess
 import sys
 from typing import Callable, cast
 from urllib.parse import quote_from_bytes
 
+from kitty.utils import get_hostname
+
 
 def write_hyperlink(write: Callable[[bytes], None], url: bytes, line: bytes, frag: bytes = b'') -> None:
     text = b'\033]8;;' + url
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ def parse_link_options(raw: str) -> None:
     num_pat = re.compile(br'^(\d+)([:-])')
 
     in_result: bytes = b''
-    hostname = socket.gethostname().encode('utf-8')
+    hostname = get_hostname().encode('utf-8')
 
     try:
         for line in p.stdout:
diff --git a/kitty/cli.py b/kitty/cli.py
index 45d502a9ad0..74cc8b3eb03 100644
--- a/kitty/cli.py
+++ b/kitty/cli.py
@@ -305,6 +305,12 @@ def env(x: str) -> str:
 role_map['envvar'] = role_map['env']
 
 
+@run_once
+def hostname() -> str:
+    from .utils import get_hostname
+    return get_hostname(fallback='localhost')
+
+
 def hyperlink_for_url(url: str, text: str) -> str:
     if sys.stdout.isatty():
         return f'\x1b]8;;{url}\x1b\\\x1b[4:3;58:5:4m{text}\x1b[4:0;59m\x1b]8;;\x1b\\'
@@ -315,7 +321,7 @@ def hyperlink_for_path(path: str, text: str) -> str:
     path = os.path.abspath(path).replace(os.sep, "/")
     if os.path.isdir(path):
         path += path.rstrip("/") + "/"
-    return hyperlink_for_url(f'file://{socket.gethostname()}{path}', text)
+    return hyperlink_for_url(f'file://{hostname()}{path}', text)
 
 
 @role
@@ -337,12 +343,6 @@ def doc(x: str) -> str:
     return ref_hyperlink(x, 'doc-')
 
 
-@run_once
-def hostname() -> str:
-    import socket
-    return socket.gethostname() or 'localhost'
-
-
 def ref_hyperlink(x: str, prefix: str = '') -> str:
     t, q = text_and_target(x)
     url = f'kitty+doc://{hostname()}/#ref={prefix}{q}'
diff --git a/kitty/utils.py b/kitty/utils.py
index 6a03a8ffe52..2c156b1bf70 100644
--- a/kitty/utils.py
+++ b/kitty/utils.py
@@ -595,6 +595,14 @@ def alphanum_key(key: str) -> Tuple[Union[int, str], ...]:
     return sorted(iterable, key=alphanum_key)
 
 
+def get_hostname(fallback: str = '') -> str:
+    import socket
+    try:
+        return socket.gethostname() or fallback
+    except Exception:
+        return fallback
+
+
 def resolve_editor_cmd(editor: str, shell_env: Mapping[str, str]) -> Optional[str]:
     import shlex
     editor_cmd = shlex.split(editor)
diff --git a/kitty/window.py b/kitty/window.py
index 0be1c434eec..749e8f4a94a 100644
--- a/kitty/window.py
+++ b/kitty/window.py
@@ -853,11 +853,8 @@ def open_url(self, url: str, hyperlink_id: int, cwd: Optional[str] = None) -> No
                 return
             if (not purl.scheme or purl.scheme == 'file'):
                 if purl.netloc:
-                    from socket import gethostname
-                    try:
-                        hostname = gethostname()
-                    except Exception:
-                        hostname = ''
+                    from .utils import get_hostname
+                    hostname = get_hostname()
                     remote_hostname = purl.netloc.partition(':')[0]
                     if remote_hostname and remote_hostname != hostname and remote_hostname != 'localhost':
                         self.handle_remote_file(purl.netloc, unquote(purl.path))