diff --git a/AK/URL.cpp b/AK/URL.cpp
index b9395bf3def..a6c786d0407 100644
--- a/AK/URL.cpp
+++ b/AK/URL.cpp
@@ -178,14 +178,17 @@ u16 URL::default_port_for_scheme(const StringView& scheme)
     return 0;
 }
 
-URL URL::create_with_file_scheme(const String& path, const String& fragment)
+URL URL::create_with_file_scheme(const String& path, const String& fragment, const String& hostname)
 {
     LexicalPath lexical_path(path);
     if (!lexical_path.is_valid() || !lexical_path.is_absolute())
         return {};
+
     URL url;
     url.set_scheme("file");
-    url.set_host(String::empty());
+    // NOTE: If the hostname is localhost (or null, which implies localhost), it should be set to the empty string.
+    //       This is because a file URL always needs a non-null hostname.
+    url.set_host(hostname.is_null() || hostname == "localhost" ? String::empty() : hostname);
     url.set_paths(lexical_path.parts());
     // NOTE: To indicate that we want to end the path with a slash, we have to append an empty path segment.
     if (path.ends_with('/'))
diff --git a/AK/URL.h b/AK/URL.h
index 85ab2f72d07..8128e55b67e 100644
--- a/AK/URL.h
+++ b/AK/URL.h
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public:
     const String& data_payload() const { return m_data_payload; }
 
     static URL create_with_url_or_path(const String&);
-    static URL create_with_file_scheme(const String& path, const String& fragment = {});
+    static URL create_with_file_scheme(const String& path, const String& fragment = {}, const String& hostname = {});
     static URL create_with_file_protocol(const String& path, const String& fragment = {}) { return create_with_file_scheme(path, fragment); }
     static URL create_with_data(const StringView& mime_type, const StringView& payload, bool is_base64 = false);