diff --git a/src/bin/psql/command.c b/src/bin/psql/command.c
index 695d6ba9f1..205ba3f602 100644
--- a/src/bin/psql/command.c
+++ b/src/bin/psql/command.c
@@ -2870,6 +2870,23 @@ param_is_newly_set(const char *old_val, const char *new_val)
 	return false;
 }
 
+/* return whether hostaddr was used for the connection. */
+static bool
+has_hostaddr(PGconn *conn)
+{
+	bool				used = false;
+	PQconninfoOption   *ciopt = PQconninfo(conn);
+
+	for (PQconninfoOption *p = ciopt; p->keyword != NULL; p++)
+	{
+		if (strcmp(p->keyword, "hostaddr") == 0 && p->val != NULL)
+			used = true;
+	}
+
+	PQconninfoFree(ciopt);
+	return used;
+}
+
 /*
  * do_connect -- handler for \connect
  *
@@ -2937,16 +2954,18 @@ do_connect(enum trivalue reuse_previous_specification,
 		if (host && strcmp(host, PQhost(o_conn)) == 0)
 		{
 			/*
-			 * if we are targeting the same host, reuse its hostaddr for
-			 * consistency
+			 * if we are targeting the same host, we reuse its hostaddr for
+			 * consistency if hostaddr was explicitely set.
 			 */
-			hostaddr = PQhostaddr(o_conn);
+			if (has_hostaddr(o_conn))
+				hostaddr = PQhostaddr(o_conn);
 		}
 		if (!host)
 		{
 			host = PQhost(o_conn);
-			/* also set hostaddr for consistency */
-			hostaddr = PQhostaddr(o_conn);
+			/* we also set hostaddr for consistency, if hostaddr was set */
+			if (has_hostaddr(o_conn))
+				hostaddr = PQhostaddr(o_conn);
 		}
 		if (!port)
 			port = PQport(o_conn);
@@ -3129,7 +3148,10 @@ do_connect(enum trivalue reuse_previous_specification,
 			char	   *host = PQhost(pset.db);
 			char	   *hostaddr = PQhostaddr(pset.db);
 
-			/* If the host is an absolute path, the connection is via socket */
+			/*
+			 * If the host is an absolute path, the connection is via socket
+			 * unless overriden by hostaddr
+			 */
 			if (is_absolute_path(host))
 			{
 				if (hostaddr && *hostaddr)
diff --git a/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c b/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c
index e58fa6742a..325d86e05e 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c
+++ b/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c
@@ -1536,9 +1536,7 @@ getHostaddr(PGconn *conn, char *host_addr, int host_addr_len)
 {
 	struct sockaddr_storage *addr = &conn->raddr.addr;
 
-	if (conn->connhost[conn->whichhost].type == CHT_HOST_ADDRESS)
-		strlcpy(host_addr, conn->connhost[conn->whichhost].hostaddr, host_addr_len);
-	else if (addr->ss_family == AF_INET)
+	if (addr->ss_family == AF_INET)
 	{
 		if (inet_net_ntop(AF_INET,
 						  &((struct sockaddr_in *) addr)->sin_addr.s_addr,
@@ -6463,6 +6461,11 @@ PQhost(const PGconn *conn)
 
 	if (conn->connhost != NULL)
 	{
+		/*
+		 * note this return the host/hosname=... value provided by the user,
+		 * even if it is an IP, thus it can include spaces and so,
+		 * whereas the next function uses the regenerated IP.
+		 */
 		if (conn->connhost[conn->whichhost].host != NULL &&
 			conn->connhost[conn->whichhost].host[0] != '\0')
 			return conn->connhost[conn->whichhost].host;
@@ -6480,15 +6483,12 @@ PQhostaddr(const PGconn *conn)
 	if (!conn)
 		return NULL;
 
-	if (conn->connhost != NULL)
-	{
-		if (conn->connhost[conn->whichhost].hostaddr != NULL &&
-			conn->connhost[conn->whichhost].hostaddr[0] != '\0')
-			return conn->connhost[conn->whichhost].hostaddr;
-
-		if (conn->connip != NULL)
-			return conn->connip;
-	}
+	/*
+	 * Always return the regenerated IP address string so that
+	 * the result is normalized.
+	 */
+	if (conn->connhost != NULL && conn->connip != NULL)
+		return conn->connip;
 
 	return "";
 }