diff --git a/.changeset/gold-bugs-sneeze.md b/.changeset/gold-bugs-sneeze.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ba76b122381
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/gold-bugs-sneeze.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@smithy/node-http-handler": patch
+---
+
+remove brackets from hostname
diff --git a/packages/node-http-handler/src/node-http-handler.spec.ts b/packages/node-http-handler/src/node-http-handler.spec.ts
index 54add403667..c32339cdfc1 100644
--- a/packages/node-http-handler/src/node-http-handler.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/node-http-handler/src/node-http-handler.spec.ts
@@ -153,6 +153,24 @@ describe("NodeHttpHandler", () => {
         expect(hRequestSpy.mock.calls[0][0]?.port).toEqual(1234);
         expect(hRequestSpy.mock.calls[0][0]?.path).toEqual("/some/path?some=query#fragment");
       });
+
+      it("removes brackets from hostname", async () => {
+        const nodeHttpHandler = new NodeHttpHandler({});
+        const httpRequest = {
+          protocol: "http:",
+          username: "username",
+          password: "password",
+          hostname: "[host]",
+          port: 1234,
+          path: "/some/path",
+          query: {
+            some: "query",
+          },
+          fragment: "fragment",
+        };
+        await nodeHttpHandler.handle(httpRequest as any);
+        expect(hRequestSpy.mock.calls[0][0]?.host).toEqual("host");
+      });
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/node-http-handler/src/node-http-handler.ts b/packages/node-http-handler/src/node-http-handler.ts
index 57c40f61bec..28bfa969b55 100644
--- a/packages/node-http-handler/src/node-http-handler.ts
+++ b/packages/node-http-handler/src/node-http-handler.ts
@@ -210,8 +210,8 @@ or increase socketAcquisitionWarningTimeout=(millis) in the NodeHttpHandler conf
         path += `#${request.fragment}`;
       }
 
-      let hostname: string;
-      if (request.hostname.startsWith("[") && request.hostname.endsWith("]")) {
+      let hostname = request.hostname ?? "";
+      if (hostname[0] === "[" && hostname.endsWith("]")) {
         hostname = request.hostname.slice(1, -1);
       } else {
         hostname = request.hostname;