diff --git a/lib/vagrant-libvirt/config.rb b/lib/vagrant-libvirt/config.rb
index 471d40d..dfaef61 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant-libvirt/config.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant-libvirt/config.rb
@@ -1304,8 +1304,8 @@ module VagrantPlugins
           end
         end
 
-        # Extract host values from uri if provided, otherwise nil
-        @host = uri.host
+        # Extract host values from uri if provided, otherwise set empty string
+        @host = uri.host || ""
         @port = uri.port
         # only override username if there is a value provided
         @username = nil if @username == UNSET_VALUE
diff --git a/spec/unit/config_spec.rb b/spec/unit/config_spec.rb
index 951b3ce..f43de4d 100644
--- a/spec/unit/config_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/config_spec.rb
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ describe VagrantPlugins::ProviderLibvirt::Config do
         ],
         [ # connect explicit to unix socket
           {:uri => "qemu+unix:///system"},
-          {:uri => "qemu+unix:///system", :connect_via_ssh => false, :host => nil, :username => nil},
+          {:uri => "qemu+unix:///system", :connect_via_ssh => false, :host => "", :username => nil},
         ],
         [ # via libssh2 should enable ssh as well
           {:uri => "qemu+libssh2://user@remote/system?known_hosts=/home/user/.ssh/known_hosts"},
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ describe VagrantPlugins::ProviderLibvirt::Config do
         ],
         [ # with session and using ssh infer connect by ssh and ignore host as not provided
           {},
-          {:uri => "qemu+ssh:///session", :qemu_use_session => true, :connect_via_ssh => true, :host => nil},
+          {:uri => "qemu+ssh:///session", :qemu_use_session => true, :connect_via_ssh => true, :host => ""},
           {
             :env => {'LIBVIRT_DEFAULT_URI' => "qemu+ssh:///session"},
           }