diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 687e737..609ad9e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -418,8 +418,9 @@ HMAC-SHA256(secret, "host:path:query:width:height:format:expiration:quality:fit"
 
 Where:
 
-- `host` — source origin hostname in lower case, whatever its case in the URL,
-  followed by `:` and the port when the URL has one (e.g. `cdn.example.com`)
+- `host` — source host as the URL writes it up to the first `/`, in lower case,
+  keeping an IPv6 address's brackets and any `:` and port after it (e.g.
+  `cdn.example.com`, `cdn.example.com:8443`, `[2001:db8::1]:8443`)
 - `path` — source path (e.g. `/photos/cat.jpg`), with each `%` written as `%25`
   and each `:` as `%3A`, so `/photos/a:b.jpg` is signed as `/photos/a%3Ab.jpg`
 - `query` — source query string, empty string if none, with `%` and `:` written
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 3285f97..d1ccf51 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ P2: security: per-origin rate limiting
   password, with 400. A host with a port, or with a `:` and no port, needs a
   signature even when it is allowlisted. That is checked in the image service,
   not in `allowlist.IsAllowed`, which also matches `referer_blocklist`, where a
-  `Referer` is blocked whatever its port. A URL is signed over the lower-cased
-  host.
+  `Referer` is blocked whatever its port. A URL is signed over its host as it
+  writes it, in lower case, with any IPv6 brackets, `:` and port kept.
 - 2026-10-15 a `:` in the source path or query no longer moves where the path
   ends and the query begins (closes #247): the signed data and the cache key
   joined host, path and query with `:` and no escaping, so a URL signed for
diff --git a/internal/imgcache/urlparser.go b/internal/imgcache/urlparser.go
index ea5b6fd..4247be6 100644
--- a/internal/imgcache/urlparser.go
+++ b/internal/imgcache/urlparser.go
@@ -151,7 +151,8 @@ func parseImageComponents(remainder string) (*ParsedURL, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Host names do not depend on letter case, so the allowlist, the upstream
-	// connection limits and the cache see one spelling of each host
+	// connection limits, the cache and the signature see one spelling of each
+	// host
 	host = strings.ToLower(host)
 
 	// Extract query string if present in path