diff --git a/icepyx/core/Earthdata.py b/icepyx/core/Earthdata.py
index f34be4063..dadc5955a 100644
--- a/icepyx/core/Earthdata.py
+++ b/icepyx/core/Earthdata.py
@@ -47,8 +47,12 @@ def __init__(
     def _start_session(self):
         #Request CMR token using Earthdata credentials
         token_api_url = 'https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/legacy-services/rest/tokens'
-        hostname = socket.gethostname()
-        ip = socket.gethostbyname(hostname)
+        #try initially with machine hostname
+        #revert to using localhost if gaierror exception
+        try:
+            ip = socket.gethostbyname(socket.gethostname())
+        except:
+            ip = socket.gethostbyname('localhost')
 
         data = {'token': {'username': self.uid, 'password': self.pswd,\
                           'client_id': 'NSIDC_client_id','user_ip_address': ip}