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..cfbd5a859 100755
--- a/plugins/domains/commands
+++ b/plugins/domains/commands
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ case "$1" in
       else
         VHOST=$(< "$DOKKU_ROOT/HOSTNAME")
       fi
-      if [[ "$VHOST" =~ $RE_IPV4 ]] || [[ "$VHOST" =~ $RE_IPV6 ]];then
-        echo "ip found as hostname. disabling vhost support"
+      if [[ "$VHOST" =~ $RE_IPV4 ]] || [[ "$VHOST" =~ $RE_IPV6 ]] || [[ ! -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/VHOST" ]];then
+        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 $VHOST_PATH..."
diff --git a/plugins/nginx-vhosts/bind-external-ip b/plugins/nginx-vhosts/bind-external-ip
index 636bc894c..7cfc2a54d 100755
--- a/plugins/nginx-vhosts/bind-external-ip
+++ b/plugins/nginx-vhosts/bind-external-ip
@@ -19,14 +19,10 @@ RE_IPV6="${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 "$NO_VHOST" ]]; then
-  echo true # bind to external ip. VHOST is disabled for this app
+if [[ -n "$NO_VHOST" ]] || [[ -z "$GLOBAL_VHOST" ]]; then
+  echo true # bind to external ip. VHOST is disabled
 elif [[ "$GLOBAL_VHOST" =~ $RE_IPV4 ]] || [[ "$GLOBAL_VHOST" =~ $RE_IPV6 ]]; then
   echo true # bind to external ip. GLOBAL_VHOST is somehow an IPv4 or IPv6 address
 elif [[ -f "$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP/VHOST" ]]; then
diff --git a/tests/unit/ports.bats b/tests/unit/ports.bats
index 9e641eed3..a1fbe8333 100644
--- a/tests/unit/ports.bats
+++ b/tests/unit/ports.bats
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ 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)" {