diff --git a/docs/nginx.md b/docs/nginx.md
index d309e2298..1f2688b97 100644
--- a/docs/nginx.md
+++ b/docs/nginx.md
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ dokku domains:remove myapp example.com
 
 > New as of 0.3.13
 
-The deployed docker container running your app's web process will bind to either the internal docker network interface (i.e. `docker inspect --format '{{ .NetworkSettings.IPAddress }}' $CONTAINER_ID`) or an external interface (i.e. 0.0.0.0) depending on dokku's VHOST configuration. Dokku will attempt to bind to the internal docker network interface unless you specifically set NO_VHOST for the given app or your dokku installation is not setup to use VHOSTS (i.e. $DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST or $DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME is set to an IPv4 or IPv6 address)
+The deployed docker container running your app's web process will bind to either the internal docker network interface (i.e. `docker inspect --format '{{ .NetworkSettings.IPAddress }}' $CONTAINER_ID`) or an external interface (i.e. 0.0.0.0) depending on dokku's VHOST configuration. Dokku will attempt to bind to the internal docker network interface unless you specifically set NO_VHOST for the given app or your dokku installation is not setup to use VHOSTS (i.e. $DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST is missing or $DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME is set to an IPv4 or IPv6 address)
 
 ```shell
 # container bound to docker interface
diff --git a/plugins/domains/commands b/plugins/domains/commands
index 9ae7bec38..e3a9825f6 100755
--- a/plugins/domains/commands
+++ b/plugins/domains/commands
@@ -16,6 +16,19 @@ RE_IPV6="${RE_IPV6}fe08:(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){2,2}%[0-9a-zA-Z]{1,}|"     # TEST: f
 RE_IPV6="${RE_IPV6}::(ffff(:0{1,4}){0,1}:){0,1}${RE_IPV4}|"            # TEST: ::255.255.255.255   ::ffff:255.255.255.255  ::ffff:0:255.255.255.255 (IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses and IPv4-translated addresses)
 RE_IPV6="${RE_IPV6}([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}:${RE_IPV4}"                # TEST: 2001:db8:3:4::192.0.2.33  64:ff9b::192.0.2.33
 
+domains_restart_app() {
+  APP="$1";
+
+  if [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/CONTAINER" ]]; then
+    echo "-----> Releasing $APP ..."
+    dokku release $APP
+    echo "-----> Release complete!"
+    echo "-----> Deploying $APP ..."
+    dokku deploy $APP
+    echo "-----> Deploy complete!"
+  fi
+}
+
 case "$1" in
   domains)
     [[ -z $2 ]] && echo "Please specify an app to run the command on" && exit 1
@@ -39,21 +52,23 @@ case "$1" in
         VHOST=$(< "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME")
       fi
       if [[ "$VHOST" =~ $RE_IPV4 ]] || [[ "$VHOST" =~ $RE_IPV6 ]];then
-        echo "ip found as hostname. disabling vhost support"
+        echo "unsupported vhost config found. disabling vhost support"
         [[ ! $(grep -q NO_VHOST "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/ENV") ]] && echo "export NO_VHOST='1'" >> "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/ENV"
       else
-        echo "-----> Creating new $VHOST_PATH..."
-        SUBDOMAIN=${APP/%\.${VHOST}/}
-        hostname=$(: | pluginhook nginx-hostname $APP $SUBDOMAIN $VHOST)
-        if [[ ! -n $hostname ]]; then
-          if [[ "$APP" == *.* ]] && [[ "$SUBDOMAIN" == "$APP" ]]; then
-            hostname="${APP/\//-}"
-          else
-            hostname="${APP/\//-}.$VHOST"
+        if [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST" ]]; then
+          echo "-----> Creating new $VHOST_PATH..."
+          SUBDOMAIN=${APP/%\.${VHOST}/}
+          hostname=$(: | pluginhook nginx-hostname $APP $SUBDOMAIN $VHOST)
+          if [[ ! -n $hostname ]]; then
+            if [[ "$APP" == *.* ]] && [[ "$SUBDOMAIN" == "$APP" ]]; then
+              hostname="${APP/\//-}"
+            else
+              hostname="${APP/\//-}.$VHOST"
+            fi
           fi
-        fi
 
-        echo "$hostname" > $VHOST_PATH
+          echo "$hostname" > $VHOST_PATH
+        fi
       fi
     fi
     ;;
@@ -76,6 +91,8 @@ case "$1" in
 
     dokku domains:setup $APP
     echo "$3" >> "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/VHOST"
+    # we need to restart the app to make sure we're binding to the appropriate network interface
+    domains_restart_app $APP
     pluginhook post-domains-update $APP
     echo "-----> Added $3 to $APP"
 
diff --git a/plugins/nginx-vhosts/bind-external-ip b/plugins/nginx-vhosts/bind-external-ip
index 636bc894c..d4582b3cd 100755
--- a/plugins/nginx-vhosts/bind-external-ip
+++ b/plugins/nginx-vhosts/bind-external-ip
@@ -19,16 +19,14 @@ RE_IPV6="${RE_IPV6}fe08:(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){2,2}%[0-9a-zA-Z]{1,}|"     # TEST: f
 RE_IPV6="${RE_IPV6}::(ffff(:0{1,4}){0,1}:){0,1}${RE_IPV4}|"            # TEST: ::255.255.255.255   ::ffff:255.255.255.255  ::ffff:0:255.255.255.255 (IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses and IPv4-translated addresses)
 RE_IPV6="${RE_IPV6}([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}:${RE_IPV4}"                # TEST: 2001:db8:3:4::192.0.2.33  64:ff9b::192.0.2.33
 
-if [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST" ]];then
-  GLOBAL_VHOST=$(< "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST")
-else
-  GLOBAL_VHOST=$(< "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME")
-fi
+[[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST" ]] && GLOBAL_VHOST=$(< "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST")
 
 if [[ -n "$NO_VHOST" ]]; then
-  echo true # bind to external ip. VHOST is disabled for this app
+  echo true # bind to external ip. VHOST is disabled
 elif [[ "$GLOBAL_VHOST" =~ $RE_IPV4 ]] || [[ "$GLOBAL_VHOST" =~ $RE_IPV6 ]]; then
   echo true # bind to external ip. GLOBAL_VHOST is somehow an IPv4 or IPv6 address
+elif [[ -z "$GLOBAL_VHOST" ]] && [[ ! -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/VHOST" ]]; then
+  echo true # bind to external ip. no GLOBAL_VHOST and no app vhost
 elif [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/VHOST" ]]; then
   echo false # bind to docker ip. this app has a vhost defined
 else
diff --git a/plugins/nginx-vhosts/commands b/plugins/nginx-vhosts/commands
index 13f00db10..099b38cf4 100755
--- a/plugins/nginx-vhosts/commands
+++ b/plugins/nginx-vhosts/commands
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ case "$1" in
 
     [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/ENV" ]] && source $DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/ENV
 
-    if [[ ! -n "$NO_VHOST" ]]; then
+    if [[ ! -n "$NO_VHOST" ]] && [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/VHOST" ]]; then
       NONSSL_VHOSTS=$(cat $VHOST_PATH)
       if [[ -e "$SSL/server.crt" ]] && [[ -e "$SSL/server.key" ]]; then
         SSL_INUSE="$SSL"
@@ -86,14 +86,14 @@ EOF
       fi
     else
       if [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/VHOST" ]]; then
-        echo "-----> NO_VHOST set, deleting $APP/VHOST"
+        echo "-----> VHOST support disabled, deleting $APP/VHOST"
         rm "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/VHOST"
       fi
       if [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/nginx.conf" ]]; then
-        echo "-----> NO_VHOST set, deleting nginx.conf"
+        echo "-----> VHOST support disabled, deleting nginx.conf"
         rm "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/nginx.conf"
 
-        echo "-----> NO_VHOST set, reloading nginx after nginx.conf deletion"
+        echo "-----> VHOST support disabled, reloading nginx after nginx.conf deletion"
         restart_nginx
       fi
     fi
diff --git a/tests/unit/nginx-vhosts.bats b/tests/unit/nginx-vhosts.bats
index db00a7ce5..bd1b1f285 100644
--- a/tests/unit/nginx-vhosts.bats
+++ b/tests/unit/nginx-vhosts.bats
@@ -3,11 +3,15 @@
 load test_helper
 
 setup() {
+  [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST" ]] && cp -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST" "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST.bak"
+  [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME" ]] && cp -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME" "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME.bak"
   create_app
 }
 
 teardown() {
   destroy_app
+  [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST.bak" ]] && mv "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST.bak" "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST"
+  [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME.bak" ]] && mv "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME.bak" "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME"
 }
 
 @test "nginx (no server tokens)" {
@@ -26,3 +30,19 @@ teardown() {
   echo "status: "$status
   assert_output "node-js-app.dokku.me"
 }
+
+@test "nginx:build-config (no global VHOST and domains:add)" {
+  destroy_app
+  rm "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST"
+  create_app
+  run dokku domains:add $TEST_APP www.test.app.dokku.me
+  echo "output: "$output
+  echo "status: "$status
+  assert_success
+  deploy_app
+  sleep 5 # wait for nginx to reload
+  run bash -c "response=\"$(curl -s -S www.test.app.dokku.me)\"; echo \$response; test \"\$response\" == \"nodejs/express\""
+  echo "output: "$output
+  echo "status: "$status
+  assert_success
+}
diff --git a/tests/unit/ports.bats b/tests/unit/ports.bats
index 9e641eed3..bace5c786 100644
--- a/tests/unit/ports.bats
+++ b/tests/unit/ports.bats
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ load test_helper
 setup() {
   [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST" ]] && cp -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST" "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST.bak"
   [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME" ]] && cp -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME" "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME.bak"
-
 }
 
 teardown() {
@@ -32,7 +31,7 @@ teardown() {
   run bash -c "docker port $CONTAINER_ID | sed 's/[0-9.]*://' | egrep '[0-9]*'"
   echo "output: "$output
   echo "status: "$status
-  assert_failure
+  assert_success
 }
 
 @test "port exposure (with NO_VHOST set)" {
@@ -67,14 +66,43 @@ teardown() {
   assert_success
 }
 
-@test "port exposure (domains:add)" {
+@test "port exposure (pre-deploy domains:add)" {
   create_app
   run dokku domains:add $TEST_APP www.test.app.dokku.me
   echo "output: "$output
   echo "status: "$status
   assert_success
+
   deploy_app
   sleep 5 # wait for nginx to reload
+
+  CONTAINER_ID=$(docker ps --no-trunc| grep dokku/$TEST_APP | grep "start web" | awk '{ print $1 }')
+  run bash -c "docker port $CONTAINER_ID | sed 's/[0-9.]*://' | egrep '[0-9]*'"
+  echo "output: "$output
+  echo "status: "$status
+  assert_failure
+
+  run bash -c "response=\"$(curl -s -S www.test.app.dokku.me)\"; echo \$response; test \"\$response\" == \"nodejs/express\""
+  echo "output: "$output
+  echo "status: "$status
+  assert_success
+}
+
+@test "port exposure (no global VHOST and domains:add post deploy)" {
+  rm "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST"
+  deploy_app
+
+  run dokku domains:add $TEST_APP www.test.app.dokku.me
+  echo "output: "$output
+  echo "status: "$status
+  assert_success
+
+  CONTAINER_ID=$(docker ps --no-trunc| grep dokku/$TEST_APP | grep "start web" | awk '{ print $1 }')
+  run bash -c "docker port $CONTAINER_ID | sed 's/[0-9.]*://' | egrep '[0-9]*'"
+  echo "output: "$output
+  echo "status: "$status
+  assert_failure
+
   run bash -c "response=\"$(curl -s -S www.test.app.dokku.me)\"; echo \$response; test \"\$response\" == \"nodejs/express\""
   echo "output: "$output
   echo "status: "$status