diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 895e6514..c0f0d25a 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@
     + Allow spaces in attribute values. Example:
       "Set-Cookie: expires=Wed, 12-Dec-2001 19:27:57 GMT"
       is now parsed correctly
+    + Add an optional leading dot for domain names, and account for that
+      in the domain checking routine.
     Type: feature
     Changed: linkcheck/cookies.py
 
diff --git a/linkcheck/cookies.py b/linkcheck/cookies.py
index eef0ed85..8d5ea9a7 100644
--- a/linkcheck/cookies.py
+++ b/linkcheck/cookies.py
@@ -152,10 +152,16 @@ class HttpCookie (object):
             return False
         cdomain = self.attributes["domain"]
         if domain == cdomain:
+            # equality matches
+            return True
+        if "." not in domain and domain == cdomain[1:]:
+            # "localhost" and ".localhost" match
             return True
         if not domain.endswith(cdomain):
+            # any suffix matches
             return False
         if "." in domain[:-len(cdomain)]:
+            # prefix must be dot-free
             return False
         return True
 
@@ -185,9 +191,11 @@ class HttpCookie (object):
         if key == "domain":
             value = value.lower()
             if not value.startswith("."):
-                raise CookieError("domain has no leading dot: %r" % value)
-            if not has_embedded_dot(value):
-                raise CookieError("domain has no embedded dot: %r" % value)
+                if not has_embedded_dot(value):
+                    if "." in value:
+                        raise CookieError("invalid dot in domain %r" % value)
+                    # supply a leading dot
+                    value = "."+value
         if key == "max-age":
             try:
                 num = int(value)
diff --git a/linkcheck/tests/test_cookies.py b/linkcheck/tests/test_cookies.py
index 5e889a77..4af4d31a 100644
--- a/linkcheck/tests/test_cookies.py
+++ b/linkcheck/tests/test_cookies.py
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ class TestCookies (unittest.TestCase):
     def test_netscape_cookie4 (self):
         data = (
             ("Foo", "Bar\""),
+            ("Domain", "localhost"),
             ("Port", "100,555,76"),
         )
         parts = ['%s="%s"' % (key, value) for key, value in data]
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@ class TestCookies (unittest.TestCase):
     def test_netscape_cookie5 (self):
         data = (
             ("Foo", "Bar"),
+            ("Domain", "imadoofus.org"),
             ("Expires", "Wed, 12-Dec-2001 19:27:57 GMT"),
             ("Path", "/"),
         )