--- socket.c.orig
+++ socket.c
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ static struct hostent *gethostbyname_dot
 char   *name;
 {
     char    dot_name[MAXHOSTNAMELEN + 1];
+    struct  hostent *hp;
 
     /*
      * Don't append dots to unqualified names. Such names are likely to come
@@ -63,8 +64,12 @@ char   *name;
     if (strchr(name, '.') == 0 || strlen(name) >= MAXHOSTNAMELEN - 1) {
     return (gethostbyname(name));
     } else {
-    sprintf(dot_name, "%s.", name);
-    return (gethostbyname(dot_name));
+        sprintf(dot_name, "%s.", name);
+        hp = gethostbyname(dot_name);
+	if (hp)
+	    return hp;
+	else
+	    return (gethostbyname(name));
     }
 }