diff --git a/Doc/library/pathlib.rst b/Doc/library/pathlib.rst
index b82986902861b2..acb91812818dab 100644
--- a/Doc/library/pathlib.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/pathlib.rst
@@ -872,10 +872,10 @@ conforming to :rfc:`8089`.
    .. versionadded:: 3.13
 
    .. versionchanged:: next
-      If a URL authority (e.g. a hostname) is present and resolves to a local
-      address, it is discarded. If an authority is present and *doesn't*
-      resolve to a local address, then on Windows a UNC path is returned (as
-      before), and on other platforms a :exc:`ValueError` is raised.
+      The URL authority is discarded if it matches the local hostname.
+      Otherwise, if the authority isn't empty or ``localhost``, then on
+      Windows a UNC path is returned (as before), and on other platforms a
+      :exc:`ValueError` is raised.
 
 
 .. method:: Path.as_uri()
diff --git a/Doc/library/urllib.request.rst b/Doc/library/urllib.request.rst
index b7c0c7d5099806..234827132bfaf0 100644
--- a/Doc/library/urllib.request.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/urllib.request.rst
@@ -172,10 +172,10 @@ The :mod:`urllib.request` module defines the following functions:
       the URL ``///etc/hosts``.
 
    .. versionchanged:: next
-      The *add_scheme* argument was added.
+      The *add_scheme* parameter was added.
 
 
-.. function:: url2pathname(url, *, require_scheme=False)
+.. function:: url2pathname(url, *, require_scheme=False, resolve_host=False)
 
    Convert the given ``file:`` URL to a local path. This function uses
    :func:`~urllib.parse.unquote` to decode the URL.
@@ -185,6 +185,13 @@ The :mod:`urllib.request` module defines the following functions:
    value should include the prefix; a :exc:`~urllib.error.URLError` is raised
    if it doesn't.
 
+   The URL authority is discarded if it is empty, ``localhost``, or the local
+   hostname. Otherwise, if *resolve_host* is set to true, the authority is
+   resolved using :func:`socket.gethostbyname` and discarded if it matches a
+   local IP address (as per :rfc:`RFC 8089 §3 <8089#section-3>`). If the
+   authority is still unhandled, then on Windows a UNC path is returned, and
+   on other platforms a :exc:`~urllib.error.URLError` is raised.
+
    This example shows the function being used on Windows::
 
       >>> from urllib.request import url2pathname
@@ -198,14 +205,13 @@ The :mod:`urllib.request` module defines the following functions:
       :exc:`OSError` exception to be raised on Windows.
 
    .. versionchanged:: next
-      This function calls :func:`socket.gethostbyname` if the URL authority
-      isn't empty, ``localhost``, or the machine hostname. If the authority
-      resolves to a local IP address then it is discarded; otherwise, on
+      The URL authority is discarded if it matches the local hostname.
+      Otherwise, if the authority isn't empty or ``localhost``, then on
       Windows a UNC path is returned (as before), and on other platforms a
       :exc:`~urllib.error.URLError` is raised.
 
    .. versionchanged:: next
-      The *require_scheme* argument was added.
+      The *require_scheme* and *resolve_host* parameters were added.
 
 
 .. function:: getproxies()
diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/3.14.rst b/Doc/whatsnew/3.14.rst
index 506a820175bc25..68ffedf4729a93 100644
--- a/Doc/whatsnew/3.14.rst
+++ b/Doc/whatsnew/3.14.rst
@@ -1703,9 +1703,11 @@ urllib
 
   - Accept a complete URL when the new *require_scheme* argument is set to
     true.
-  - Discard URL authorities that resolve to a local IP address.
-  - Raise :exc:`~urllib.error.URLError` if a URL authority doesn't resolve
-    to a local IP address, except on Windows where we return a UNC path.
+  - Discard URL authority if it matches the local hostname.
+  - Discard URL authority if it resolves to a local IP address when the new
+    *resolve_host* argument is set to true.
+  - Raise :exc:`~urllib.error.URLError` if a URL authority isn't local,
+    except on Windows where we return a UNC path as before.
 
   In :func:`urllib.request.pathname2url`:
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_pathlib/test_pathlib.py b/Lib/test/test_pathlib/test_pathlib.py
index 41a79d0dceb0eb..e23dac3c25fa35 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_pathlib/test_pathlib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_pathlib/test_pathlib.py
@@ -3290,7 +3290,6 @@ def test_from_uri_posix(self):
         self.assertEqual(P.from_uri('file:////foo/bar'), P('//foo/bar'))
         self.assertEqual(P.from_uri('file://localhost/foo/bar'), P('/foo/bar'))
         if not is_wasi:
-            self.assertEqual(P.from_uri('file://127.0.0.1/foo/bar'), P('/foo/bar'))
             self.assertEqual(P.from_uri(f'file://{socket.gethostname()}/foo/bar'),
                              P('/foo/bar'))
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, P.from_uri, 'foo/bar')
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_urllib.py b/Lib/test/test_urllib.py
index 90de828cc71249..c965860fbb10ef 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_urllib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_urllib.py
@@ -1551,7 +1551,8 @@ def test_url2pathname_require_scheme(self):
                     urllib.request.url2pathname(url, require_scheme=True),
                     expected_path)
 
-        error_subtests = [
+    def test_url2pathname_require_scheme_errors(self):
+        subtests = [
             '',
             ':',
             'foo',
@@ -1561,13 +1562,20 @@ def test_url2pathname_require_scheme(self):
             'data:file:foo',
             'data:file://foo',
         ]
-        for url in error_subtests:
+        for url in subtests:
             with self.subTest(url=url):
                 self.assertRaises(
                     urllib.error.URLError,
                     urllib.request.url2pathname,
                     url, require_scheme=True)
 
+    def test_url2pathname_resolve_host(self):
+        fn = urllib.request.url2pathname
+        sep = os.path.sep
+        self.assertEqual(fn('//127.0.0.1/foo/bar', resolve_host=True), f'{sep}foo{sep}bar')
+        self.assertEqual(fn(f'//{socket.gethostname()}/foo/bar'), f'{sep}foo{sep}bar')
+        self.assertEqual(fn(f'//{socket.gethostname()}/foo/bar', resolve_host=True), f'{sep}foo{sep}bar')
+
     @unittest.skipUnless(sys.platform == 'win32',
                          'test specific to Windows pathnames.')
     def test_url2pathname_win(self):
@@ -1598,6 +1606,7 @@ def test_url2pathname_win(self):
         self.assertEqual(fn('//server/path/to/file'), '\\\\server\\path\\to\\file')
         self.assertEqual(fn('////server/path/to/file'), '\\\\server\\path\\to\\file')
         self.assertEqual(fn('/////server/path/to/file'), '\\\\server\\path\\to\\file')
+        self.assertEqual(fn('//127.0.0.1/path/to/file'), '\\\\127.0.0.1\\path\\to\\file')
         # Localhost paths
         self.assertEqual(fn('//localhost/C:/path/to/file'), 'C:\\path\\to\\file')
         self.assertEqual(fn('//localhost/C|/path/to/file'), 'C:\\path\\to\\file')
@@ -1622,8 +1631,7 @@ def test_url2pathname_posix(self):
         self.assertRaises(urllib.error.URLError, fn, '//:80/foo/bar')
         self.assertRaises(urllib.error.URLError, fn, '//:/foo/bar')
         self.assertRaises(urllib.error.URLError, fn, '//c:80/foo/bar')
-        self.assertEqual(fn('//127.0.0.1/foo/bar'), '/foo/bar')
-        self.assertEqual(fn(f'//{socket.gethostname()}/foo/bar'), '/foo/bar')
+        self.assertRaises(urllib.error.URLError, fn, '//127.0.0.1/foo/bar')
 
     @unittest.skipUnless(os_helper.FS_NONASCII, 'need os_helper.FS_NONASCII')
     def test_url2pathname_nonascii(self):
diff --git a/Lib/urllib/request.py b/Lib/urllib/request.py
index 9a6b29a90a2968..41dc5d7b35dedb 100644
--- a/Lib/urllib/request.py
+++ b/Lib/urllib/request.py
@@ -1466,7 +1466,7 @@ def get_names(self):
     def open_local_file(self, req):
         import email.utils
         import mimetypes
-        localfile = url2pathname(req.full_url, require_scheme=True)
+        localfile = url2pathname(req.full_url, require_scheme=True, resolve_host=True)
         try:
             stats = os.stat(localfile)
             size = stats.st_size
@@ -1482,7 +1482,7 @@ def open_local_file(self, req):
 
     file_open = open_local_file
 
-def _is_local_authority(authority):
+def _is_local_authority(authority, resolve):
     # Compare hostnames
     if not authority or authority == 'localhost':
         return True
@@ -1494,9 +1494,11 @@ def _is_local_authority(authority):
         if authority == hostname:
             return True
     # Compare IP addresses
+    if not resolve:
+        return False
     try:
         address = socket.gethostbyname(authority)
-    except (socket.gaierror, AttributeError):
+    except (socket.gaierror, AttributeError, UnicodeEncodeError):
         return False
     return address in FileHandler().get_names()
 
@@ -1641,13 +1643,16 @@ def data_open(self, req):
         return addinfourl(io.BytesIO(data), headers, url)
 
 
-# Code move from the old urllib module
+# Code moved from the old urllib module
 
-def url2pathname(url, *, require_scheme=False):
+def url2pathname(url, *, require_scheme=False, resolve_host=False):
     """Convert the given file URL to a local file system path.
 
     The 'file:' scheme prefix must be omitted unless *require_scheme*
     is set to true.
+
+    The URL authority may be resolved with gethostbyname() if
+    *resolve_host* is set to true.
     """
     if require_scheme:
         scheme, url = _splittype(url)
@@ -1655,7 +1660,7 @@ def url2pathname(url, *, require_scheme=False):
             raise URLError("URL is missing a 'file:' scheme")
     authority, url = _splithost(url)
     if os.name == 'nt':
-        if not _is_local_authority(authority):
+        if not _is_local_authority(authority, resolve_host):
             # e.g. file://server/share/file.txt
             url = '//' + authority + url
         elif url[:3] == '///':
@@ -1669,7 +1674,7 @@ def url2pathname(url, *, require_scheme=False):
                 # Older URLs use a pipe after a drive letter
                 url = url[:1] + ':' + url[2:]
         url = url.replace('/', '\\')
-    elif not _is_local_authority(authority):
+    elif not _is_local_authority(authority, resolve_host):
         raise URLError("file:// scheme is supported only on localhost")
     encoding = sys.getfilesystemencoding()
     errors = sys.getfilesystemencodeerrors()
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-11-14-21-17-48.gh-issue-126838.Yr5vKF.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-11-14-21-17-48.gh-issue-126838.Yr5vKF.rst
index 857cc359229daa..c45c22e73448db 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-11-14-21-17-48.gh-issue-126838.Yr5vKF.rst
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-11-14-21-17-48.gh-issue-126838.Yr5vKF.rst
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-Fix issue where :func:`urllib.request.url2pathname` mishandled file URLs with
-authorities. If an authority is present and resolves to ``localhost``, it is
-now discarded. If an authority is present but *doesn't* resolve to
-``localhost``, then on Windows a UNC path is returned (as before), and on
-other platforms a :exc:`urllib.error.URLError` is now raised.
+Add *resolve_host* keyword-only parameter to
+:func:`urllib.request.url2pathname`, and fix handling of file URLs with
+authorities.