diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/io/dns/AsyncDnsResolverIntegrationSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/io/dns/AsyncDnsResolverIntegrationSpec.scala
index 7d92076cd4..f990cc0137 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/io/dns/AsyncDnsResolverIntegrationSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/io/dns/AsyncDnsResolverIntegrationSpec.scala
@@ -183,8 +183,6 @@ class AsyncDnsResolverIntegrationSpec
     }
 
     "resolve localhost even though ndots is greater than 0" in {
-      // This currently works because the nameserver resolves localhost, but in future should work because we've
-      // implemented proper support for /etc/hosts
       val name = "localhost"
       val answer = resolve(name, DnsProtocol.Ip(ipv6 = false))
       withClue(answer) {
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/dns/internal/AsyncDnsResolver.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/dns/internal/AsyncDnsResolver.scala
index 081166b380..8d1c4644e5 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/dns/internal/AsyncDnsResolver.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/dns/internal/AsyncDnsResolver.scala
@@ -39,6 +39,29 @@ private[io] final class AsyncDnsResolver(
 
   implicit val ec: ExecutionContextExecutor = context.dispatcher
 
+  // avoid ever looking up localhost by pre-populating cache
+  {
+    val loopback = InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress
+    val (ipv4Address, ipv6Address) = loopback match {
+      case ipv6: Inet6Address => (InetAddress.getByName("127.0.0.1"), ipv6)
+      case ipv4: Inet4Address => (ipv4, InetAddress.getByName("::1"))
+      case unknown            => throw new IllegalArgumentException(s"Loopback address was [$unknown]")
+    }
+    cache.put(
+      "localhost" -> Ip(),
+      DnsProtocol.Resolved("localhost", ARecord("localhost", Ttl.effectivelyForever, loopback) :: Nil),
+      Ttl.effectivelyForever)
+    cache.put(
+      "localhost" -> Ip(ipv6 = false, ipv4 = true),
+      DnsProtocol.Resolved("localhost", ARecord("localhost", Ttl.effectivelyForever, ipv4Address) :: Nil),
+      Ttl.effectivelyForever)
+    cache.put(
+      "localhost" -> Ip(ipv6 = true, ipv4 = false),
+      DnsProtocol.Resolved("localhost", ARecord("localhost", Ttl.effectivelyForever, ipv6Address) :: Nil),
+      Ttl.effectivelyForever)
+
+  }
+
   // For ask to DNS Client
   implicit val timeout: Timeout = Timeout(settings.ResolveTimeout)