diff --git a/modules/private/internal.go b/modules/private/internal.go
index 146b4d97990..a3227eacb78 100644
--- a/modules/private/internal.go
+++ b/modules/private/internal.go
@@ -54,12 +54,7 @@ func dialContextInternalAPI(ctx context.Context, network, address string) (conn
 	return conn, nil
 }
 
-// internalAPIConnectionIsLocal reports whether the internal API transport connects to a local target,
-// where the self-signed local certificate cannot be verified so skipping verification is safe. It mirrors
-// what dialContextInternalAPI actually dials: a unix socket whenever Protocol is HTTPUnix (always local,
-// whatever LOCAL_ROOT_URL says), otherwise the LOCAL_ROOT_URL host directly. A non-loopback LOCAL_ROOT_URL
-// is a real network hop, so its certificate must be verified, else the internal token can be MITM'd. An
-// unparseable LOCAL_ROOT_URL is a hard misconfiguration and fails closed (verify).
+// unspecified IPs dial the local host too, other targets are network hops that must be verified to protect INTERNAL_TOKEN
 func internalAPIConnectionIsLocal(protocol setting.Scheme, localURL string) bool {
 	if protocol == setting.HTTPUnix {
 		return true
@@ -73,19 +68,21 @@ func internalAPIConnectionIsLocal(protocol setting.Scheme, localURL string) bool
 		return true
 	}
 	ip := net.ParseIP(host)
-	return ip != nil && ip.IsLoopback()
+	return ip != nil && (ip.IsLoopback() || ip.IsUnspecified())
+}
+
+func internalAPITLSConfig(protocol setting.Scheme, localURL, domain string) *tls.Config {
+	if internalAPIConnectionIsLocal(protocol, localURL) {
+		// the ACME listener selects its certificate by SNI, so send the public domain instead of the local host
+		return &tls.Config{InsecureSkipVerify: true, ServerName: domain}
+	}
+	return &tls.Config{}
 }
 
 var internalAPITransport = sync.OnceValue(func() http.RoundTripper {
 	return &http.Transport{
-		DialContext: dialContextInternalAPI,
-		TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{
-			// Skip verification only for a local target (unix socket, or a loopback LOCAL_ROOT_URL), where the
-			// self-signed local cert can't be verified anyway; a non-loopback LOCAL_ROOT_URL is a real network
-			// hop and must be verified so the internal token can't be MITM'd. When verifying, Go's default
-			// ServerName (the dialed LOCAL_ROOT_URL host) is already correct, so it is not overridden.
-			InsecureSkipVerify: internalAPIConnectionIsLocal(setting.Protocol, setting.LocalURL),
-		},
+		DialContext:     dialContextInternalAPI,
+		TLSClientConfig: internalAPITLSConfig(setting.Protocol, setting.LocalURL, setting.AppDomain),
 	}
 })
 
diff --git a/modules/private/internal_test.go b/modules/private/internal_test.go
index 35713d1b0fb..e0ee1a9bd4b 100644
--- a/modules/private/internal_test.go
+++ b/modules/private/internal_test.go
@@ -7,23 +7,26 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"gitea.dev/modules/setting"
+	"gitea.dev/modules/util"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
-func TestInternalAPIConnectionIsLocal(t *testing.T) {
+func TestInternalAPITLSConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	cases := []struct {
 		name     string
 		protocol setting.Scheme
 		localURL string
-		want     bool
+		local    bool
 	}{
 		// HTTPUnix always dials the unix socket (a local target), whatever LOCAL_ROOT_URL says
 		{"unix socket", setting.HTTPUnix, "https://gitea.example.com/", true},
 		{"localhost", setting.HTTP, "http://localhost:3000/", true},
 		{"loopback ipv4", setting.HTTPS, "https://127.0.0.1:3000/", true},
 		{"loopback ipv6", setting.HTTPS, "https://[::1]:3000/", true},
-		// a non-loopback LOCAL_ROOT_URL is a real network hop and must be verified
+		{"unspecified ipv4", setting.HTTPS, "https://0.0.0.0:3000/", true},
+		{"unspecified ipv6", setting.HTTPS, "https://[::]:3000/", true},
+		// any other LOCAL_ROOT_URL is a real network hop and must be verified
 		{"remote host", setting.HTTPS, "https://gitea.internal:443/", false},
 		{"remote ip", setting.HTTPS, "https://10.0.0.5:3000/", false},
 		// an unparseable LOCAL_ROOT_URL is a hard misconfiguration; fail closed to verification
@@ -31,7 +34,9 @@ func TestInternalAPIConnectionIsLocal(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for _, c := range cases {
 		t.Run(c.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			assert.Equal(t, c.want, internalAPIConnectionIsLocal(c.protocol, c.localURL))
+			config := internalAPITLSConfig(c.protocol, c.localURL, "gitea.example.com")
+			assert.Equal(t, c.local, config.InsecureSkipVerify)
+			assert.Equal(t, util.Iif(c.local, "gitea.example.com", ""), config.ServerName)
 		})
 	}
 }