diff --git a/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci.go b/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci.go
index 986f4a72a245..27730048a819 100644
--- a/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci.go
+++ b/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci.go
@@ -702,7 +702,9 @@ func DaemonHost(driver string) string {
 		if dh := os.Getenv(constants.DockerHostEnv); dh != "" {
 			if u, err := url.Parse(dh); err == nil {
 				if u.Host != "" {
-					return u.Hostname()
+					if hostname := u.Hostname(); hostname != "" {
+						return u.Hostname()
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci_test.go b/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci_test.go
index f31df575b699..c8befe2c987b 100644
--- a/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci_test.go
+++ b/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci_test.go
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ func TestDaemonHost(t *testing.T) {
 		{"docker", "", "unix:///var/run/something", "127.0.0.1", false},
 		{"docker", "", "tcp://127.0.0.1/foo", "127.0.0.1", true},
 		{"docker", "", "ssh://127.0.0.1/bar", "127.0.0.1", true},
+		{"docker", "", "tcp://:", "127.0.0.1", true},
 	}
 	for _, test := range tests {
 		t.Setenv("CONTAINER_HOST", test.containerHost)