diff --git a/lib/moodlelib.php b/lib/moodlelib.php
index d4ee49ec996..f31795fbf7c 100644
--- a/lib/moodlelib.php
+++ b/lib/moodlelib.php
@@ -1069,25 +1069,8 @@ function clean_param($param, $type) {
 
         case PARAM_HOST:
             // Allow FQDN or IPv4 dotted quad.
-            $param = preg_replace('/[^\.\d\w-]/', '', (string)$param );
-            // Match ipv4 dotted quad.
-            if (preg_match('/(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})/', $param, $match)) {
-                // Confirm values are ok.
-                if ( $match[0] > 255
-                     || $match[1] > 255
-                     || $match[3] > 255
-                     || $match[4] > 255 ) {
-                    // Hmmm, what kind of dotted quad is this?
-                    $param = '';
-                }
-            } else if ( preg_match('/^[\w\d\.-]+$/', $param) // Dots, hyphens, numbers.
-                       && !preg_match('/^[\.-]/',  $param) // No leading dots/hyphens.
-                       && !preg_match('/[\.-]$/',  $param) // No trailing dots/hyphens.
-                       ) {
-                // All is ok - $param is respected.
-            } else {
-                // All is not ok...
-                $param='';
+            if (!\core\ip_utils::is_domain_name($param) && !\core\ip_utils::is_ipv4_address($param)) {
+                $param = '';
             }
             return $param;
 
diff --git a/lib/tests/moodlelib_test.php b/lib/tests/moodlelib_test.php
index 21c4e56b1c9..88adffbe898 100644
--- a/lib/tests/moodlelib_test.php
+++ b/lib/tests/moodlelib_test.php
@@ -646,6 +646,38 @@ class moodlelib_test extends \advanced_testcase {
         $this->assertSame('', clean_param(null, PARAM_TEXT));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Data provider for {@see test_clean_param_host}
+     *
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public static function clean_param_host_provider(): array {
+        return [
+            'Valid (low octets)' => ['0.0.0.0', '0.0.0.0'],
+            'Valid (high octets)' => ['255.255.255.255', '255.255.255.255'],
+            'Invalid first octet' => ['256.1.1.1', ''],
+            'Invalid second octet' => ['1.256.1.1', ''],
+            'Invalid third octet' => ['1.1.256.1', ''],
+            'Invalid fourth octet' => ['1.1.1.256', ''],
+            'Valid host' => ['moodle.org', 'moodle.org'],
+            'Invalid host' => ['.example.com', ''],
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Testing cleaning parameters with PARAM_HOST
+     *
+     * @param string $param
+     * @param string $expected
+     *
+     * @dataProvider clean_param_host_provider
+     *
+     * @covers \clean_param
+     */
+    public function test_clean_param_host(string $param, string $expected): void {
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, clean_param($param, PARAM_HOST));
+    }
+
     public function test_clean_param_url() {
         // Test PARAM_URL and PARAM_LOCALURL a bit.
         // Valid URLs.