diff --git a/backend/src/disk/mount/filesystem/cifs.rs b/backend/src/disk/mount/filesystem/cifs.rs
index 7dfcb207d..c456bce63 100644
--- a/backend/src/disk/mount/filesystem/cifs.rs
+++ b/backend/src/disk/mount/filesystem/cifs.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ use crate::util::Invoke;
 use crate::Error;
 
 async fn resolve_hostname(hostname: &str) -> Result<IpAddr, Error> {
+    if let Ok(addr) = hostname.parse() {
+        return Ok(addr);
+    }
     #[cfg(feature = "avahi")]
     if hostname.ends_with(".local") {
         return Ok(IpAddr::V4(crate::net::mdns::resolve_mdns(hostname).await?));
diff --git a/frontend/projects/ui/src/app/components/backup-drives/backup-drives.component.ts b/frontend/projects/ui/src/app/components/backup-drives/backup-drives.component.ts
index a226de329..fa73b8452 100644
--- a/frontend/projects/ui/src/app/components/backup-drives/backup-drives.component.ts
+++ b/frontend/projects/ui/src/app/components/backup-drives/backup-drives.component.ts
@@ -277,12 +277,10 @@ export class BackupDrivesStatusComponent {
 const CifsSpec: ConfigSpec = {
   hostname: {
     type: 'string',
-    name: 'Hostname',
+    name: 'Hostname/IP',
     description:
-      'The hostname of your target device on the Local Area Network.',
-    placeholder: `e.g. 'My Computer' OR 'my-computer.local'`,
-    pattern: '^[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+( [a-zA-Z0-9]+)*$',
-    'pattern-description': `Must be a valid hostname. e.g. 'My Computer' OR 'my-computer.local'`,
+      'The hostname or IP address of the target device on your Local Area Network.',
+    placeholder: `e.g. 'MyComputer.local' OR '192.168.1.4'`,
     nullable: false,
     masked: false,
     copyable: false,