diff --git a/src/net/conf.go b/src/net/conf.go
index 36566a49e2..48372e5197 100644
--- a/src/net/conf.go
+++ b/src/net/conf.go
@@ -124,16 +124,17 @@ func (c *conf) hostLookupOrder(hostname string) (ret hostLookupOrder) {
 			print("go package net: hostLookupOrder(", hostname, ") = ", ret.String(), "\n")
 		}()
 	}
+	fallbackOrder := hostLookupCgo
 	if c.netGo {
-		return hostLookupFilesDNS
+		fallbackOrder = hostLookupFilesDNS
 	}
 	if c.forceCgoLookupHost || c.resolv.unknownOpt || c.goos == "android" {
-		return hostLookupCgo
+		return fallbackOrder
 	}
 	if byteIndex(hostname, '\\') != -1 || byteIndex(hostname, '%') != -1 {
 		// Don't deal with special form hostnames with backslashes
 		// or '%'.
-		return hostLookupCgo
+		return fallbackOrder
 	}
 
 	// OpenBSD is unique and doesn't use nsswitch.conf.
@@ -154,7 +155,7 @@ func (c *conf) hostLookupOrder(hostname string) (ret hostLookupOrder) {
 			return hostLookupDNSFiles
 		}
 		if len(lookup) < 1 || len(lookup) > 2 {
-			return hostLookupCgo
+			return fallbackOrder
 		}
 		switch lookup[0] {
 		case "bind":
@@ -162,7 +163,7 @@ func (c *conf) hostLookupOrder(hostname string) (ret hostLookupOrder) {
 				if lookup[1] == "file" {
 					return hostLookupDNSFiles
 				}
-				return hostLookupCgo
+				return fallbackOrder
 			}
 			return hostLookupDNS
 		case "file":
@@ -170,11 +171,11 @@ func (c *conf) hostLookupOrder(hostname string) (ret hostLookupOrder) {
 				if lookup[1] == "bind" {
 					return hostLookupFilesDNS
 				}
-				return hostLookupCgo
+				return fallbackOrder
 			}
 			return hostLookupFiles
 		default:
-			return hostLookupCgo
+			return fallbackOrder
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -189,7 +190,7 @@ func (c *conf) hostLookupOrder(hostname string) (ret hostLookupOrder) {
 		// because Go's native resolver doesn't do mDNS or
 		// similar local resolution mechanisms, assume that
 		// libc might (via Avahi, etc) and use cgo.
-		return hostLookupCgo
+		return fallbackOrder
 	}
 
 	nss := c.nss
@@ -199,7 +200,7 @@ func (c *conf) hostLookupOrder(hostname string) (ret hostLookupOrder) {
 	if os.IsNotExist(nss.err) || (nss.err == nil && len(srcs) == 0) {
 		if c.goos == "solaris" {
 			// illumos defaults to "nis [NOTFOUND=return] files"
-			return hostLookupCgo
+			return fallbackOrder
 		}
 		if c.goos == "linux" {
 			// glibc says the default is "dns [!UNAVAIL=return] files"
@@ -212,7 +213,7 @@ func (c *conf) hostLookupOrder(hostname string) (ret hostLookupOrder) {
 		// We failed to parse or open nsswitch.conf, so
 		// conservatively assume we should use cgo if it's
 		// available.
-		return hostLookupCgo
+		return fallbackOrder
 	}
 
 	var mdnsSource, filesSource, dnsSource bool
@@ -222,11 +223,11 @@ func (c *conf) hostLookupOrder(hostname string) (ret hostLookupOrder) {
 			if hasDot {
 				continue
 			}
-			return hostLookupCgo
+			return fallbackOrder
 		}
 		if src.source == "files" || src.source == "dns" {
 			if !src.standardCriteria() {
-				return hostLookupCgo // non-standard; let libc deal with it.
+				return fallbackOrder // non-standard; let libc deal with it.
 			}
 			if src.source == "files" {
 				filesSource = true
@@ -246,14 +247,14 @@ func (c *conf) hostLookupOrder(hostname string) (ret hostLookupOrder) {
 			continue
 		}
 		// Some source we don't know how to deal with.
-		return hostLookupCgo
+		return fallbackOrder
 	}
 
 	// We don't parse mdns.allow files. They're rare. If one
 	// exists, it might list other TLDs (besides .local) or even
 	// '*', so just let libc deal with it.
 	if mdnsSource && c.hasMDNSAllow {
-		return hostLookupCgo
+		return fallbackOrder
 	}
 
 	// Cases where Go can handle it without cgo and C thread
@@ -272,7 +273,7 @@ func (c *conf) hostLookupOrder(hostname string) (ret hostLookupOrder) {
 	}
 
 	// Something weird. Let libc deal with it.
-	return hostLookupCgo
+	return fallbackOrder
 }
 
 // goDebugNetDNS parses the value of the GODEBUG "netdns" value.
diff --git a/src/net/conf_test.go b/src/net/conf_test.go
index f4659f407d..8f39847804 100644
--- a/src/net/conf_test.go
+++ b/src/net/conf_test.go
@@ -46,6 +46,28 @@ func TestConfHostLookupOrder(t *testing.T) {
 				{"google.com", hostLookupCgo},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "netgo_dns_before_files",
+			c: &conf{
+				netGo:  true,
+				nss:    nssStr("hosts: dns files"),
+				resolv: defaultResolvConf,
+			},
+			hostTests: []nssHostTest{
+				{"x.com", hostLookupDNSFiles},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "netgo_fallback_on_cgo",
+			c: &conf{
+				netGo:  true,
+				nss:    nssStr("hosts: dns files something_custom"),
+				resolv: defaultResolvConf,
+			},
+			hostTests: []nssHostTest{
+				{"x.com", hostLookupFilesDNS},
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name: "ubuntu_trusty_avahi",
 			c: &conf{