diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 31e0c8acb..3becdc1db 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ Testing
 
 * pytest: report the result of ``test_run_epubcheck`` as ``skipped`` instead of
   ``success`` when Java and/or the ``epubcheck.jar`` code are not available.
+* utils: use dynamic allocation of unused port numbers for the test HTTP(S)
+  servers.  As a side-effect, this removes the need for test server lockfiles,
+  meaning that any remaining ``tests/test-server.lock`` files can safely be
+  deleted.
 
 Release 7.2.6 (released Sep 13, 2023)
 =====================================
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 870081fc5..0fe5c737c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ test = [
     "defusedxml>=0.7.1", # for secure XML/HTML parsing
     "cython>=3.0",
     "setuptools>=67.0",  # for Cython compilation
-    "filelock",
 ]
 
 [[project.authors]]
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-linkcheck-raw-node/index.rst b/tests/roots/test-linkcheck-raw-node/index.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index 76e26b547..000000000
--- a/tests/roots/test-linkcheck-raw-node/index.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-.. raw:: html
-   :url: http://localhost:7777/
diff --git a/tests/test_builders/test_build_linkcheck.py b/tests/test_builders/test_build_linkcheck.py
index 6bf6f25a8..f986caa23 100644
--- a/tests/test_builders/test_build_linkcheck.py
+++ b/tests/test_builders/test_build_linkcheck.py
@@ -23,12 +23,13 @@ from sphinx.builders.linkcheck import (
     Hyperlink,
     HyperlinkAvailabilityCheckWorker,
     RateLimit,
+    compile_linkcheck_allowed_redirects,
 )
 from sphinx.deprecation import RemovedInSphinx80Warning
 from sphinx.util import requests
 from sphinx.util.console import strip_colors
 
-from tests.utils import CERT_FILE, http_server
+from tests.utils import CERT_FILE, serve_application
 
 ts_re = re.compile(r".*\[(?P<ts>.*)\].*")
 
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@ class ConnectionMeasurement:
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck', freshenv=True)
 def test_defaults(app):
-    with http_server(DefaultsHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, DefaultsHandler) as address:
         with ConnectionMeasurement() as m:
             app.build()
         assert m.connection_count <= 5
@@ -114,8 +115,8 @@ def test_defaults(app):
     assert "Anchor 'top' not found" in content
     assert "Anchor 'does-not-exist' not found" in content
     # images should fail
-    assert "Not Found for url: http://localhost:7777/image.png" in content
-    assert "Not Found for url: http://localhost:7777/image2.png" in content
+    assert f"Not Found for url: http://{address}/image.png" in content
+    assert f"Not Found for url: http://{address}/image2.png" in content
     # looking for missing local file should fail
     assert "[broken] path/to/notfound" in content
     assert len(content.splitlines()) == 5
@@ -136,12 +137,12 @@ def test_defaults(app):
     rowsby = {row["uri"]: row for row in rows}
     # looking for local file that exists should succeed
     assert rowsby["conf.py"]["status"] == "working"
-    assert rowsby["http://localhost:7777#!bar"] == {
+    assert rowsby[f"http://{address}#!bar"] == {
         'filename': 'links.rst',
         'lineno': 5,
         'status': 'working',
         'code': 0,
-        'uri': 'http://localhost:7777#!bar',
+        'uri': f'http://{address}#!bar',
         'info': '',
     }
 
@@ -151,25 +152,25 @@ def test_defaults(app):
             'lineno': lineno,
             'status': 'broken',
             'code': 0,
-            'uri': f'http://localhost:7777/{filename}',
-            'info': f'404 Client Error: Not Found for url: http://localhost:7777/{filename}',
+            'uri': f'http://{address}/{filename}',
+            'info': f'404 Client Error: Not Found for url: http://{address}/{filename}',
         }
     accurate_linenumbers = docutils.__version_info__[:2] >= (0, 21)
     image2_lineno = 12 if accurate_linenumbers else 13
-    assert rowsby['http://localhost:7777/image2.png'] == _missing_resource("image2.png", image2_lineno)
+    assert rowsby[f'http://{address}/image2.png'] == _missing_resource("image2.png", image2_lineno)
     # looking for '#top' and '#does-not-exist' not found should fail
-    assert rowsby["http://localhost:7777/#top"]["info"] == "Anchor 'top' not found"
-    assert rowsby["http://localhost:7777/#top"]["status"] == "broken"
-    assert rowsby["http://localhost:7777#does-not-exist"]["info"] == "Anchor 'does-not-exist' not found"
+    assert rowsby[f"http://{address}/#top"]["info"] == "Anchor 'top' not found"
+    assert rowsby[f"http://{address}/#top"]["status"] == "broken"
+    assert rowsby[f"http://{address}#does-not-exist"]["info"] == "Anchor 'does-not-exist' not found"
     # images should fail
-    assert "Not Found for url: http://localhost:7777/image.png" in rowsby["http://localhost:7777/image.png"]["info"]
+    assert f"Not Found for url: http://{address}/image.png" in rowsby[f"http://{address}/image.png"]["info"]
     # anchor should be found
-    assert rowsby['http://localhost:7777/anchor.html#found'] == {
+    assert rowsby[f'http://{address}/anchor.html#found'] == {
         'filename': 'links.rst',
         'lineno': 14,
         'status': 'working',
         'code': 0,
-        'uri': 'http://localhost:7777/anchor.html#found',
+        'uri': f'http://{address}/anchor.html#found',
         'info': '',
     }
 
@@ -178,7 +179,7 @@ def test_defaults(app):
     'linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck', freshenv=True,
     confoverrides={'linkcheck_anchors': False})
 def test_check_link_response_only(app):
-    with http_server(DefaultsHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, DefaultsHandler) as address:
         app.build()
 
     # JSON output
@@ -187,12 +188,12 @@ def test_check_link_response_only(app):
 
     rows = [json.loads(x) for x in content.splitlines()]
     rowsby = {row["uri"]: row for row in rows}
-    assert rowsby["http://localhost:7777/#top"]["status"] == "working"
+    assert rowsby[f"http://{address}/#top"]["status"] == "working"
 
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-too-many-retries', freshenv=True)
 def test_too_many_retries(app):
-    with http_server(DefaultsHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, DefaultsHandler) as address:
         app.build()
 
     # Text output
@@ -216,12 +217,20 @@ def test_too_many_retries(app):
     assert row['lineno'] == 1
     assert row['status'] == 'broken'
     assert row['code'] == 0
-    assert row['uri'] == 'https://localhost:7777/doesnotexist'
+    assert row['uri'] == f'https://{address}/doesnotexist'
 
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-raw-node', freshenv=True)
 def test_raw_node(app):
-    with http_server(OKHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, OKHandler) as address:
+        # write an index file that contains a link back to this webserver's root
+        # URL.  docutils will replace the raw node with the contents retrieved..
+        # ..and then the linkchecker will check that the root URL is available.
+        index = (app.srcdir / "index.rst")
+        index.write_text(
+            ".. raw:: 'html'\n"
+            "   :url: http://{address}/".format(address=address),
+        )
         app.build()
 
     # JSON output
@@ -237,7 +246,7 @@ def test_raw_node(app):
         'lineno': 1,
         'status': 'working',
         'code': 0,
-        'uri': 'http://localhost:7777/',
+        'uri': f'http://{address}/',  # the received rST contains a link to its' own URL
         'info': '',
     }
 
@@ -246,7 +255,7 @@ def test_raw_node(app):
     'linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-anchors-ignore', freshenv=True,
     confoverrides={'linkcheck_anchors_ignore': ["^!", "^top$"]})
 def test_anchors_ignored(app):
-    with http_server(OKHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, OKHandler):
         app.build()
 
     assert (app.outdir / 'output.txt').exists()
@@ -272,14 +281,13 @@ class AnchorsIgnoreForUrlHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
             self.wfile.write(b"no anchor but page exists\n")
 
 
-@pytest.mark.sphinx(
-    'linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-anchors-ignore-for-url', freshenv=True,
-    confoverrides={'linkcheck_anchors_ignore_for_url': [
-        'http://localhost:7777/ignored',  # existing page
-        'http://localhost:7777/invalid',  # unknown page
-    ]})
+@pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-anchors-ignore-for-url', freshenv=True)
 def test_anchors_ignored_for_url(app):
-    with http_server(AnchorsIgnoreForUrlHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, AnchorsIgnoreForUrlHandler) as address:
+        app.config.linkcheck_anchors_ignore_for_url = [  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+            f'http://{address}/ignored',  # existing page
+            f'http://{address}/invalid',  # unknown page
+        ]
         app.build()
 
     assert (app.outdir / 'output.txt').exists()
@@ -294,23 +302,23 @@ def test_anchors_ignored_for_url(app):
     # the order the threads are processing the links
     rows = {r['uri']: {'status': r['status'], 'info': r['info']} for r in data}
 
-    assert rows['http://localhost:7777/valid']['status'] == 'working'
-    assert rows['http://localhost:7777/valid#valid-anchor']['status'] == 'working'
-    assert rows['http://localhost:7777/valid#invalid-anchor'] == {
+    assert rows[f'http://{address}/valid']['status'] == 'working'
+    assert rows[f'http://{address}/valid#valid-anchor']['status'] == 'working'
+    assert rows[f'http://{address}/valid#invalid-anchor'] == {
         'status': 'broken',
         'info': "Anchor 'invalid-anchor' not found",
     }
 
-    assert rows['http://localhost:7777/ignored']['status'] == 'working'
-    assert rows['http://localhost:7777/ignored#invalid-anchor']['status'] == 'working'
+    assert rows[f'http://{address}/ignored']['status'] == 'working'
+    assert rows[f'http://{address}/ignored#invalid-anchor']['status'] == 'working'
 
-    assert rows['http://localhost:7777/invalid'] == {
+    assert rows[f'http://{address}/invalid'] == {
         'status': 'broken',
-        'info': '404 Client Error: Not Found for url: http://localhost:7777/invalid',
+        'info': f'404 Client Error: Not Found for url: http://{address}/invalid',
     }
-    assert rows['http://localhost:7777/invalid#anchor'] == {
+    assert rows[f'http://{address}/invalid#anchor'] == {
         'status': 'broken',
-        'info': '404 Client Error: Not Found for url: http://localhost:7777/invalid',
+        'info': f'404 Client Error: Not Found for url: http://{address}/invalid',
     }
 
 
@@ -322,13 +330,13 @@ def test_raises_for_invalid_status(app):
         def do_GET(self):
             self.send_error(500, "Internal Server Error")
 
-    with http_server(InternalServerErrorHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, InternalServerErrorHandler) as address:
         app.build()
     content = (app.outdir / 'output.txt').read_text(encoding='utf8')
     assert content == (
-        "index.rst:1: [broken] http://localhost:7777/#anchor: "
+        f"index.rst:1: [broken] http://{address}/#anchor: "
         "500 Server Error: Internal Server Error "
-        "for url: http://localhost:7777/\n"
+        f"for url: http://{address}/\n"
     )
 
 
@@ -380,15 +388,14 @@ def custom_handler(valid_credentials=(), success_criteria=lambda _: True):
     return CustomHandler
 
 
-@pytest.mark.sphinx(
-    'linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True,
-    confoverrides={'linkcheck_auth': [
-        (r'^$', ('no', 'match')),
-        (r'^http://localhost:7777/$', ('user1', 'password')),
-        (r'.*local.*', ('user2', 'hunter2')),
-    ]})
+@pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True)
 def test_auth_header_uses_first_match(app):
-    with http_server(custom_handler(valid_credentials=("user1", "password"))):
+    with serve_application(app, custom_handler(valid_credentials=("user1", "password"))) as address:
+        app.config.linkcheck_auth = [  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+            (r'^$', ('no', 'match')),
+            (fr'^http://{re.escape(address)}/$', ('user1', 'password')),
+            (r'.*local.*', ('user2', 'hunter2')),
+        ]
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / "output.json", encoding="utf-8") as fp:
@@ -402,7 +409,7 @@ def test_auth_header_uses_first_match(app):
     'linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True,
     confoverrides={'linkcheck_allow_unauthorized': False})
 def test_unauthorized_broken(app):
-    with http_server(custom_handler(valid_credentials=("user1", "password"))):
+    with serve_application(app, custom_handler(valid_credentials=("user1", "password"))):
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / "output.json", encoding="utf-8") as fp:
@@ -417,7 +424,7 @@ def test_unauthorized_broken(app):
     confoverrides={'linkcheck_auth': [(r'^$', ('user1', 'password'))]})
 def test_auth_header_no_match(app):
     with (
-        http_server(custom_handler(valid_credentials=("user1", "password"))),
+        serve_application(app, custom_handler(valid_credentials=("user1", "password"))),
         pytest.warns(RemovedInSphinx80Warning, match='linkcheck builder encountered an HTTP 401'),
     ):
         app.build()
@@ -430,23 +437,18 @@ def test_auth_header_no_match(app):
     assert content["status"] == "working"
 
 
-@pytest.mark.sphinx(
-    'linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True,
-    confoverrides={'linkcheck_request_headers': {
-        "http://localhost:7777/": {
-            "Accept": "text/html",
-        },
-        "*": {
-            "X-Secret": "open sesami",
-        },
-    }})
+@pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True)
 def test_linkcheck_request_headers(app):
     def check_headers(self):
         if "X-Secret" in self.headers:
             return False
         return self.headers["Accept"] == "text/html"
 
-    with http_server(custom_handler(success_criteria=check_headers)):
+    with serve_application(app, custom_handler(success_criteria=check_headers)) as address:
+        app.config.linkcheck_request_headers = {  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+            f"http://{address}/": {"Accept": "text/html"},
+            "*": {"X-Secret": "open sesami"},
+        }
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / "output.json", encoding="utf-8") as fp:
@@ -455,19 +457,18 @@ def test_linkcheck_request_headers(app):
     assert content["status"] == "working"
 
 
-@pytest.mark.sphinx(
-    'linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True,
-    confoverrides={'linkcheck_request_headers': {
-        "http://localhost:7777": {"Accept": "application/json"},
-        "*": {"X-Secret": "open sesami"},
-    }})
+@pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True)
 def test_linkcheck_request_headers_no_slash(app):
     def check_headers(self):
         if "X-Secret" in self.headers:
             return False
         return self.headers["Accept"] == "application/json"
 
-    with http_server(custom_handler(success_criteria=check_headers)):
+    with serve_application(app, custom_handler(success_criteria=check_headers)) as address:
+        app.config.linkcheck_request_headers = {  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+            f"http://{address}": {"Accept": "application/json"},
+            "*": {"X-Secret": "open sesami"},
+        }
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / "output.json", encoding="utf-8") as fp:
@@ -488,7 +489,7 @@ def test_linkcheck_request_headers_default(app):
             return False
         return self.headers["Accept"] != "application/json"
 
-    with http_server(custom_handler(success_criteria=check_headers)):
+    with serve_application(app, custom_handler(success_criteria=check_headers)):
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / "output.json", encoding="utf-8") as fp:
@@ -514,7 +515,7 @@ def make_redirect_handler(*, support_head):
                 self.send_response(204, "No content")
             else:
                 self.send_response(302, "Found")
-                self.send_header("Location", "http://localhost:7777/?redirected=1")
+                self.send_header("Location", "/?redirected=1")
             self.send_header("Content-Length", "0")
             self.end_headers()
 
@@ -527,13 +528,13 @@ def make_redirect_handler(*, support_head):
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True)
 def test_follows_redirects_on_HEAD(app, capsys, warning):
-    with http_server(make_redirect_handler(support_head=True)):
+    with serve_application(app, make_redirect_handler(support_head=True)) as address:
         app.build()
     stdout, stderr = capsys.readouterr()
     content = (app.outdir / 'output.txt').read_text(encoding='utf8')
     assert content == (
         "index.rst:1: [redirected with Found] "
-        "http://localhost:7777/ to http://localhost:7777/?redirected=1\n"
+        f"http://{address}/ to http://{address}/?redirected=1\n"
     )
     assert stderr == textwrap.dedent(
         """\
@@ -546,13 +547,13 @@ def test_follows_redirects_on_HEAD(app, capsys, warning):
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True)
 def test_follows_redirects_on_GET(app, capsys, warning):
-    with http_server(make_redirect_handler(support_head=False)):
+    with serve_application(app, make_redirect_handler(support_head=False)) as address:
         app.build()
     stdout, stderr = capsys.readouterr()
     content = (app.outdir / 'output.txt').read_text(encoding='utf8')
     assert content == (
         "index.rst:1: [redirected with Found] "
-        "http://localhost:7777/ to http://localhost:7777/?redirected=1\n"
+        f"http://{address}/ to http://{address}/?redirected=1\n"
     )
     assert stderr == textwrap.dedent(
         """\
@@ -564,12 +565,11 @@ def test_follows_redirects_on_GET(app, capsys, warning):
     assert warning.getvalue() == ''
 
 
-@pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver-warn-redirects',
-                    freshenv=True, confoverrides={
-                        'linkcheck_allowed_redirects': {'http://localhost:7777/.*1': '.*'},
-                    })
+@pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver-warn-redirects')
 def test_linkcheck_allowed_redirects(app, warning):
-    with http_server(make_redirect_handler(support_head=False)):
+    with serve_application(app, make_redirect_handler(support_head=False)) as address:
+        app.config.linkcheck_allowed_redirects = {f'http://{address}/.*1': '.*'}  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+        compile_linkcheck_allowed_redirects(app, app.config)
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / 'output.json', encoding='utf-8') as fp:
@@ -577,18 +577,18 @@ def test_linkcheck_allowed_redirects(app, warning):
 
     assert len(rows) == 2
     records = {row["uri"]: row for row in rows}
-    assert records["http://localhost:7777/path1"]["status"] == "working"
-    assert records["http://localhost:7777/path2"] == {
+    assert records[f"http://{address}/path1"]["status"] == "working"
+    assert records[f"http://{address}/path2"] == {
         'filename': 'index.rst',
         'lineno': 3,
         'status': 'redirected',
         'code': 302,
-        'uri': 'http://localhost:7777/path2',
-        'info': 'http://localhost:7777/?redirected=1',
+        'uri': f'http://{address}/path2',
+        'info': f'http://{address}/?redirected=1',
     }
 
-    assert ("index.rst:3: WARNING: redirect  http://localhost:7777/path2 - with Found to "
-            "http://localhost:7777/?redirected=1\n" in strip_colors(warning.getvalue()))
+    assert (f"index.rst:3: WARNING: redirect  http://{address}/path2 - with Found to "
+            f"http://{address}/?redirected=1\n" in strip_colors(warning.getvalue()))
     assert len(warning.getvalue().splitlines()) == 1
 
 
@@ -612,7 +612,7 @@ class OKHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver-https', freshenv=True)
 def test_invalid_ssl(get_request, app):
     # Link indicates SSL should be used (https) but the server does not handle it.
-    with http_server(OKHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, OKHandler) as address:
         app.build()
         assert not get_request.called
 
@@ -621,13 +621,13 @@ def test_invalid_ssl(get_request, app):
     assert content["status"] == "broken"
     assert content["filename"] == "index.rst"
     assert content["lineno"] == 1
-    assert content["uri"] == "https://localhost:7777/"
+    assert content["uri"] == f"https://{address}/"
     assert "SSLError" in content["info"]
 
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver-https', freshenv=True)
 def test_connect_to_selfsigned_fails(app):
-    with http_server(OKHandler, tls_enabled=True):
+    with serve_application(app, OKHandler, tls_enabled=True) as address:
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / 'output.json', encoding='utf-8') as fp:
@@ -635,14 +635,14 @@ def test_connect_to_selfsigned_fails(app):
     assert content["status"] == "broken"
     assert content["filename"] == "index.rst"
     assert content["lineno"] == 1
-    assert content["uri"] == "https://localhost:7777/"
+    assert content["uri"] == f"https://{address}/"
     assert "[SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED]" in content["info"]
 
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver-https', freshenv=True)
 def test_connect_to_selfsigned_with_tls_verify_false(app):
     app.config.tls_verify = False
-    with http_server(OKHandler, tls_enabled=True):
+    with serve_application(app, OKHandler, tls_enabled=True) as address:
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / 'output.json', encoding='utf-8') as fp:
@@ -652,7 +652,7 @@ def test_connect_to_selfsigned_with_tls_verify_false(app):
         "status": "working",
         "filename": "index.rst",
         "lineno": 1,
-        "uri": "https://localhost:7777/",
+        "uri": f'https://{address}/',
         "info": "",
     }
 
@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ def test_connect_to_selfsigned_with_tls_verify_false(app):
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver-https', freshenv=True)
 def test_connect_to_selfsigned_with_tls_cacerts(app):
     app.config.tls_cacerts = CERT_FILE
-    with http_server(OKHandler, tls_enabled=True):
+    with serve_application(app, OKHandler, tls_enabled=True) as address:
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / 'output.json', encoding='utf-8') as fp:
@@ -670,7 +670,7 @@ def test_connect_to_selfsigned_with_tls_cacerts(app):
         "status": "working",
         "filename": "index.rst",
         "lineno": 1,
-        "uri": "https://localhost:7777/",
+        "uri": f'https://{address}/',
         "info": "",
     }
 
@@ -678,7 +678,7 @@ def test_connect_to_selfsigned_with_tls_cacerts(app):
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver-https', freshenv=True)
 def test_connect_to_selfsigned_with_requests_env_var(monkeypatch, app):
     monkeypatch.setenv("REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE", CERT_FILE)
-    with http_server(OKHandler, tls_enabled=True):
+    with serve_application(app, OKHandler, tls_enabled=True) as address:
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / 'output.json', encoding='utf-8') as fp:
@@ -688,7 +688,7 @@ def test_connect_to_selfsigned_with_requests_env_var(monkeypatch, app):
         "status": "working",
         "filename": "index.rst",
         "lineno": 1,
-        "uri": "https://localhost:7777/",
+        "uri": f'https://{address}/',
         "info": "",
     }
 
@@ -696,7 +696,7 @@ def test_connect_to_selfsigned_with_requests_env_var(monkeypatch, app):
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver-https', freshenv=True)
 def test_connect_to_selfsigned_nonexistent_cert_file(app):
     app.config.tls_cacerts = "does/not/exist"
-    with http_server(OKHandler, tls_enabled=True):
+    with serve_application(app, OKHandler, tls_enabled=True) as address:
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / 'output.json', encoding='utf-8') as fp:
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@ def test_connect_to_selfsigned_nonexistent_cert_file(app):
         "status": "broken",
         "filename": "index.rst",
         "lineno": 1,
-        "uri": "https://localhost:7777/",
+        "uri": f'https://{address}/',
         "info": "Could not find a suitable TLS CA certificate bundle, invalid path: does/not/exist",
     }
 
@@ -716,7 +716,7 @@ class InfiniteRedirectOnHeadHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
 
     def do_HEAD(self):
         self.send_response(302, "Found")
-        self.send_header("Location", "http://localhost:7777/")
+        self.send_header("Location", "/")
         self.send_header("Content-Length", "0")
         self.end_headers()
 
@@ -735,7 +735,7 @@ def test_TooManyRedirects_on_HEAD(app, monkeypatch):
 
     monkeypatch.setattr(requests.sessions, "DEFAULT_REDIRECT_LIMIT", 5)
 
-    with http_server(InfiniteRedirectOnHeadHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, InfiniteRedirectOnHeadHandler) as address:
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / 'output.json', encoding='utf-8') as fp:
@@ -745,7 +745,7 @@ def test_TooManyRedirects_on_HEAD(app, monkeypatch):
         "status": "working",
         "filename": "index.rst",
         "lineno": 1,
-        "uri": "http://localhost:7777/",
+        "uri": f'http://{address}/',
         "info": "",
     }
 
@@ -771,9 +771,11 @@ def make_retry_after_handler(responses):
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True)
 def test_too_many_requests_retry_after_int_delay(app, capsys, status):
-    with http_server(make_retry_after_handler([(429, "0"), (200, None)])), \
-         mock.patch("sphinx.builders.linkcheck.DEFAULT_DELAY", 0), \
-         mock.patch("sphinx.builders.linkcheck.QUEUE_POLL_SECS", 0.01):
+    with (
+        serve_application(app, make_retry_after_handler([(429, "0"), (200, None)])) as address,
+        mock.patch("sphinx.builders.linkcheck.DEFAULT_DELAY", 0),
+        mock.patch("sphinx.builders.linkcheck.QUEUE_POLL_SECS", 0.01),
+    ):
         app.build()
     content = (app.outdir / 'output.json').read_text(encoding='utf8')
     assert json.loads(content) == {
@@ -781,10 +783,10 @@ def test_too_many_requests_retry_after_int_delay(app, capsys, status):
         "lineno": 1,
         "status": "working",
         "code": 0,
-        "uri": "http://localhost:7777/",
+        "uri": f'http://{address}/',
         "info": "",
     }
-    rate_limit_log = "-rate limited-   http://localhost:7777/ | sleeping...\n"
+    rate_limit_log = f"-rate limited-   http://{address}/ | sleeping...\n"
     assert rate_limit_log in strip_colors(status.getvalue())
     _stdout, stderr = capsys.readouterr()
     assert stderr == textwrap.dedent(
@@ -808,7 +810,7 @@ def test_too_many_requests_retry_after_HTTP_date(tz, app, monkeypatch, capsys):
             m.setattr(sphinx.util.http_date, '_GMT_OFFSET',
                       float(time.localtime().tm_gmtoff))
 
-        with http_server(make_retry_after_handler([(429, retry_after), (200, None)])):
+        with serve_application(app, make_retry_after_handler([(429, retry_after), (200, None)])) as address:
             app.build()
 
     content = (app.outdir / 'output.json').read_text(encoding='utf8')
@@ -817,7 +819,7 @@ def test_too_many_requests_retry_after_HTTP_date(tz, app, monkeypatch, capsys):
         "lineno": 1,
         "status": "working",
         "code": 0,
-        "uri": "http://localhost:7777/",
+        "uri": f'http://{address}/',
         "info": "",
     }
     _stdout, stderr = capsys.readouterr()
@@ -831,8 +833,10 @@ def test_too_many_requests_retry_after_HTTP_date(tz, app, monkeypatch, capsys):
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True)
 def test_too_many_requests_retry_after_without_header(app, capsys):
-    with http_server(make_retry_after_handler([(429, None), (200, None)])), \
-         mock.patch("sphinx.builders.linkcheck.DEFAULT_DELAY", 0):
+    with (
+        serve_application(app, make_retry_after_handler([(429, None), (200, None)])) as address,
+        mock.patch("sphinx.builders.linkcheck.DEFAULT_DELAY", 0),
+    ):
         app.build()
     content = (app.outdir / 'output.json').read_text(encoding='utf8')
     assert json.loads(content) == {
@@ -840,7 +844,7 @@ def test_too_many_requests_retry_after_without_header(app, capsys):
         "lineno": 1,
         "status": "working",
         "code": 0,
-        "uri": "http://localhost:7777/",
+        "uri": f'http://{address}/',
         "info": "",
     }
     _stdout, stderr = capsys.readouterr()
@@ -864,7 +868,7 @@ def test_requests_timeout(app):
             self.end_headers()
 
     app.config.linkcheck_timeout = 0.01
-    with http_server(DelayedResponseHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, DelayedResponseHandler):
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / "output.json", encoding="utf-8") as fp:
@@ -876,7 +880,7 @@ def test_requests_timeout(app):
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True)
 def test_too_many_requests_user_timeout(app):
     app.config.linkcheck_rate_limit_timeout = 0.0
-    with http_server(make_retry_after_handler([(429, None)])):
+    with serve_application(app, make_retry_after_handler([(429, None)])) as address:
         app.build()
     content = (app.outdir / 'output.json').read_text(encoding='utf8')
     assert json.loads(content) == {
@@ -884,8 +888,8 @@ def test_too_many_requests_user_timeout(app):
         "lineno": 1,
         "status": "broken",
         "code": 0,
-        "uri": "http://localhost:7777/",
-        "info": "429 Client Error: Too Many Requests for url: http://localhost:7777/",
+        "uri": f'http://{address}/',
+        "info": f"429 Client Error: Too Many Requests for url: http://{address}/",
     }
 
 
@@ -943,14 +947,15 @@ def test_connection_contention(get_adapter, app, capsys):
     import socket
     socket.setdefaulttimeout(5)
 
-    # Place a workload into the linkcheck queue
-    link_count = 10
-    rqueue, wqueue = Queue(), Queue()
-    for _ in range(link_count):
-        wqueue.put(CheckRequest(0, Hyperlink("http://localhost:7777", "test", "test.rst", 1)))
-
     # Create parallel consumer threads
-    with http_server(make_redirect_handler(support_head=True)):
+    with serve_application(app, make_redirect_handler(support_head=True)) as address:
+
+        # Place a workload into the linkcheck queue
+        link_count = 10
+        rqueue, wqueue = Queue(), Queue()
+        for _ in range(link_count):
+            wqueue.put(CheckRequest(0, Hyperlink(f"http://{address}", "test", "test.rst", 1)))
+
         begin, checked = time.time(), []
         threads = [
             HyperlinkAvailabilityCheckWorker(
@@ -988,7 +993,7 @@ class ConnectionResetHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-localserver', freshenv=True)
 def test_get_after_head_raises_connection_error(app):
-    with http_server(ConnectionResetHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, ConnectionResetHandler) as address:
         app.build()
     content = (app.outdir / 'output.txt').read_text(encoding='utf8')
     assert not content
@@ -998,14 +1003,14 @@ def test_get_after_head_raises_connection_error(app):
         "lineno": 1,
         "status": "working",
         "code": 0,
-        "uri": "http://localhost:7777/",
+        "uri": f'http://{address}/',
         "info": "",
     }
 
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('linkcheck', testroot='linkcheck-documents_exclude', freshenv=True)
 def test_linkcheck_exclude_documents(app):
-    with http_server(DefaultsHandler):
+    with serve_application(app, DefaultsHandler):
         app.build()
 
     with open(app.outdir / 'output.json', encoding='utf-8') as fp:
diff --git a/tests/test_extensions/test_ext_intersphinx.py b/tests/test_extensions/test_ext_intersphinx.py
index 29fb57931..ef5a9b145 100644
--- a/tests/test_extensions/test_ext_intersphinx.py
+++ b/tests/test_extensions/test_ext_intersphinx.py
@@ -526,9 +526,8 @@ def test_inspect_main_url(capsys):
             # Silenced.
             pass
 
-    url = 'http://localhost:7777/' + INVENTORY_FILENAME
-
-    with http_server(InventoryHandler):
+    with http_server(InventoryHandler) as server:
+        url = f'http://localhost:{server.server_port}/{INVENTORY_FILENAME}'
         inspect_main([url])
 
     stdout, stderr = capsys.readouterr()
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index 288932446..5636a138e 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -2,34 +2,40 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 __all__ = ('http_server',)
 
+import socket
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from http.server import ThreadingHTTPServer
 from pathlib import Path
 from ssl import PROTOCOL_TLS_SERVER, SSLContext
 from threading import Thread
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
-
-import filelock
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from collections.abc import Iterator
+    from http.server import HTTPServer
     from socketserver import BaseRequestHandler
     from typing import Final
 
+    from sphinx.application import Sphinx
+
 # Generated with:
 # $ openssl req -new -x509 -days 3650 -nodes -out cert.pem \
 #     -keyout cert.pem -addext "subjectAltName = DNS:localhost"
 TESTS_ROOT: Final[Path] = Path(__file__).parent
 CERT_FILE: Final[str] = str(TESTS_ROOT / 'certs' / 'cert.pem')
 
-# File lock for tests
-LOCK_PATH: Final[str] = str(TESTS_ROOT / 'test-server.lock')
-
 
 class HttpServerThread(Thread):
-    def __init__(self, handler: type[BaseRequestHandler]) -> None:
+    def __init__(self, handler: type[BaseRequestHandler], *, port: int = 0) -> None:
+        """
+        Constructs a threaded HTTP server.  The default port number of ``0``
+        delegates selection of a port number to bind to to Python.
+
+        Ref: https://docs.python.org/3.11/library/socketserver.html#asynchronous-mixins
+        """
         super().__init__(daemon=True)
-        self.server = ThreadingHTTPServer(('localhost', 7777), handler)
+        self.server = ThreadingHTTPServer(('localhost', port), handler)
 
     def run(self) -> None:
         self.server.serve_forever(poll_interval=0.001)
@@ -41,8 +47,8 @@ class HttpServerThread(Thread):
 
 
 class HttpsServerThread(HttpServerThread):
-    def __init__(self, handler: type[BaseRequestHandler]) -> None:
-        super().__init__(handler)
+    def __init__(self, handler: type[BaseRequestHandler], *, port: int = 0) -> None:
+        super().__init__(handler, port=port)
         sslcontext = SSLContext(PROTOCOL_TLS_SERVER)
         sslcontext.load_cert_chain(CERT_FILE)
         self.server.socket = sslcontext.wrap_socket(self.server.socket, server_side=True)
@@ -50,13 +56,70 @@ class HttpsServerThread(HttpServerThread):
 
 @contextmanager
 def http_server(
-    handler: type[BaseRequestHandler], *, tls_enabled: bool = False
-) -> Iterator[HttpServerThread]:
+    handler: type[BaseRequestHandler],
+    *,
+    tls_enabled: bool = False,
+    port: int = 0,
+) -> Iterator[HTTPServer]:
     server_cls = HttpsServerThread if tls_enabled else HttpServerThread
-    with filelock.FileLock(LOCK_PATH):
-        server = server_cls(handler)
-        server.start()
-        try:
-            yield server
-        finally:
-            server.terminate()
+    server_thread = server_cls(handler, port=port)
+    server_thread.start()
+    server_port = server_thread.server.server_port
+    assert port == 0 or server_port == port
+    try:
+        socket.create_connection(('localhost', server_port), timeout=0.5).close()
+        yield server_thread.server  # Connection has been confirmed possible; proceed.
+    finally:
+        server_thread.terminate()
+
+
+@contextmanager
+def rewrite_hyperlinks(app: Sphinx, server: HTTPServer) -> Iterator[None]:
+    """
+    Rewrite hyperlinks that refer to network location 'localhost:7777',
+    allowing that location to vary dynamically with the arbitrary test HTTP
+    server port assigned during unit testing.
+
+    :param app: The Sphinx application where link replacement is to occur.
+    :param server: Destination server to redirect the hyperlinks to.
+    """
+    match_netloc, replacement_netloc = (
+        'localhost:7777',
+        f'localhost:{server.server_port}',
+    )
+
+    def rewrite_hyperlink(_app: Sphinx, uri: str) -> str | None:
+        parsed_uri = urlparse(uri)
+        if parsed_uri.netloc != match_netloc:
+            return uri
+        return parsed_uri._replace(netloc=replacement_netloc).geturl()
+
+    listener_id = app.connect('linkcheck-process-uri', rewrite_hyperlink)
+    yield
+    app.disconnect(listener_id)
+
+
+@contextmanager
+def serve_application(
+    app: Sphinx,
+    handler: type[BaseRequestHandler],
+    *,
+    tls_enabled: bool = False,
+    port: int = 0,
+) -> Iterator[str]:
+    """
+    Prepare a temporary server to handle HTTP requests related to the links
+    found in a Sphinx application project.
+
+    :param app: The Sphinx application.
+    :param handler: Determines how each request will be handled.
+    :param tls_enabled: Whether TLS (SSL) should be enabled for the server.
+    :param port: Optional server port (default: auto).
+
+    :return: The address of the temporary HTTP server.
+    """
+    with (
+        http_server(handler, tls_enabled=tls_enabled, port=port) as server,
+        rewrite_hyperlinks(app, server),
+    ):
+        yield f'localhost:{server.server_port}'