diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index a00b1ef..c071ef3 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@ P2: security: per-origin rate limiting
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-16 a source host that is an IPv6 address in brackets with no port,
+  such as `[2001:db8::a]`, is fetched like one with a port, through `/v1/image/`
+  and through an encrypted URL (closes #295). The fetcher's check of the source
+  URL kept the brackets when no port followed them, could not look the host up,
+  and the request answered 500. It now checks the address without brackets, so a
+  private one is refused with 403, as with a port.
 - 2026-10-16 a size with one side `0` keeps the side computed from the source's
   proportions at 1 or more (closes #283): it was rounded down, so for a thin
   source it came out at 0, and libvips then made the size square. An 8192x1
diff --git a/internal/httpfetcher/httpfetcher.go b/internal/httpfetcher/httpfetcher.go
index 1428040..159ee68 100644
--- a/internal/httpfetcher/httpfetcher.go
+++ b/internal/httpfetcher/httpfetcher.go
@@ -473,16 +473,16 @@ func validateURL(ctx context.Context, rawURL string, allowHTTP bool) error {
 		return ErrUnsupportedScheme
 	}
 
-	// Parse to extract host
-	host := extractHost(rawURL)
-	if host == "" {
-		return ErrInvalidHost
+	parsedURL, err := neturl.Parse(rawURL)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%w: %w", ErrInvalidHost, err)
 	}
 
-	// Remove port if present
-	h, _, err := net.SplitHostPort(host)
-	if err == nil {
-		host = h
+	// Hostname drops any port, and the brackets of an IPv6 address whether
+	// or not a port follows them
+	host := parsedURL.Hostname()
+	if host == "" {
+		return ErrInvalidHost
 	}
 
 	// Block obvious localhost patterns