diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/mcp/browser/context.ts b/packages/playwright/src/mcp/browser/context.ts
index cabfa540ad622..3b9584802bb81 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/mcp/browser/context.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/mcp/browser/context.ts
@@ -177,12 +177,12 @@ export class Context {
       await context.route('**', route => route.abort('blockedbyclient'));
 
       for (const origin of this.config.network.allowedOrigins)
-        await context.route(`*://${origin}/**`, route => route.continue());
+        await context.route(originOrHostGlob(origin), route => route.continue());
     }
 
     if (this.config.network?.blockedOrigins?.length) {
       for (const origin of this.config.network.blockedOrigins)
-        await context.route(`*://${origin}/**`, route => route.abort('blockedbyclient'));
+        await context.route(originOrHostGlob(origin), route => route.abort('blockedbyclient'));
     }
   }
 
@@ -234,6 +234,18 @@ export class Context {
   }
 }
 
+function originOrHostGlob(originOrHost: string) {
+  try {
+    const url = new URL(originOrHost);
+    // localhost:1234 will parse as protocol 'localhost:' and 'null' origin.
+    if (url.origin !== 'null')
+      return `${url.origin}/**`;
+  } catch {
+  }
+  // Support for legacy host-only mode.
+  return `*://${originOrHost}/**`;
+}
+
 export class InputRecorder {
   private _context: Context;
   private _browserContext: playwright.BrowserContext;
diff --git a/tests/mcp/request-blocking.spec.ts b/tests/mcp/request-blocking.spec.ts
index 0bcfd343010af..a2ca31879ba70 100644
--- a/tests/mcp/request-blocking.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/mcp/request-blocking.spec.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ test('default to allow all', async ({ server, client }) => {
   expect(result).toContain('content:PPP');
 });
 
-test('blocked works', async ({ startClient }) => {
+test('blocked works (hostname)', async ({ startClient }) => {
   const { client } = await startClient({
     args: ['--blocked-origins', 'microsoft.com;example.com;playwright.dev']
   });
@@ -44,7 +44,15 @@ test('blocked works', async ({ startClient }) => {
   expect(result).toMatch(BLOCK_MESSAGE);
 });
 
-test('allowed works', async ({ server, startClient }) => {
+test('blocked works (origin)', async ({ startClient }) => {
+  const { client } = await startClient({
+    args: ['--blocked-origins', 'https://microsoft.com;https://example.com;https://playwright.dev']
+  });
+  const result = await fetchPage(client, 'https://example.com/');
+  expect(result).toMatch(BLOCK_MESSAGE);
+});
+
+test('allowed works (hostname)', async ({ server, startClient }) => {
   server.setContent('/ppp', 'content:PPP', 'text/html');
   const { client } = await startClient({
     args: ['--allowed-origins', `microsoft.com;${new URL(server.PREFIX).host};playwright.dev`]
@@ -53,7 +61,16 @@ test('allowed works', async ({ server, startClient }) => {
   expect(result).toContain('content:PPP');
 });
 
-test('blocked takes precedence', async ({ startClient }) => {
+test('allowed works (origin)', async ({ server, startClient }) => {
+  server.setContent('/ppp', 'content:PPP', 'text/html');
+  const { client } = await startClient({
+    args: ['--allowed-origins', `https://microsoft.com;${new URL(server.PREFIX).origin};https://playwright.dev`]
+  });
+  const result = await fetchPage(client, server.PREFIX + '/ppp');
+  expect(result).toContain('content:PPP');
+});
+
+test('blocked takes precedence (hostname)', async ({ startClient }) => {
   const { client } = await startClient({
     args: [
       '--blocked-origins', 'example.com',
@@ -64,7 +81,18 @@ test('blocked takes precedence', async ({ startClient }) => {
   expect(result).toMatch(BLOCK_MESSAGE);
 });
 
-test('allowed without blocked blocks all non-explicitly specified origins', async ({ startClient }) => {
+test('blocked takes precedence (origin)', async ({ startClient }) => {
+  const { client } = await startClient({
+    args: [
+      '--blocked-origins', 'https://example.com',
+      '--allowed-origins', 'https://example.com',
+    ],
+  });
+  const result = await fetchPage(client, 'https://example.com/');
+  expect(result).toMatch(BLOCK_MESSAGE);
+});
+
+test('allowed without blocked blocks all non-explicitly specified origins (hostname)', async ({ startClient }) => {
   const { client } = await startClient({
     args: ['--allowed-origins', 'playwright.dev'],
   });
@@ -72,7 +100,15 @@ test('allowed without blocked blocks all non-explicitly specified origins', asyn
   expect(result).toMatch(BLOCK_MESSAGE);
 });
 
-test('blocked without allowed allows non-explicitly specified origins', async ({ server, startClient }) => {
+test('allowed without blocked blocks all non-explicitly specified origins (origin)', async ({ startClient }) => {
+  const { client } = await startClient({
+    args: ['--allowed-origins', 'https://playwright.dev'],
+  });
+  const result = await fetchPage(client, 'https://example.com/');
+  expect(result).toMatch(BLOCK_MESSAGE);
+});
+
+test('blocked without allowed allows non-explicitly specified origins (hostname)', async ({ server, startClient }) => {
   server.setContent('/ppp', 'content:PPP', 'text/html');
   const { client } = await startClient({
     args: ['--blocked-origins', 'example.com'],
@@ -80,3 +116,12 @@ test('blocked without allowed allows non-explicitly specified origins', async ({
   const result = await fetchPage(client, server.PREFIX + '/ppp');
   expect(result).toContain('content:PPP');
 });
+
+test('blocked without allowed allows non-explicitly specified origins (origin)', async ({ server, startClient }) => {
+  server.setContent('/ppp', 'content:PPP', 'text/html');
+  const { client } = await startClient({
+    args: ['--blocked-origins', 'https://example.com'],
+  });
+  const result = await fetchPage(client, server.PREFIX + '/ppp');
+  expect(result).toContain('content:PPP');
+});