diff --git a/src/components/views/dialogs/ServerPickerDialog.tsx b/src/components/views/dialogs/ServerPickerDialog.tsx
index 4d967220e0..65d53f0870 100644
--- a/src/components/views/dialogs/ServerPickerDialog.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/dialogs/ServerPickerDialog.tsx
@@ -49,9 +49,19 @@ export default class ServerPickerDialog extends React.PureComponent<IProps, ISta
         const config = SdkConfig.get();
         this.defaultServer = config["validated_server_config"] as ValidatedServerConfig;
         const { serverConfig } = this.props;
+
+        let otherHomeserver = "";
+        if (!serverConfig.isDefault) {
+            if (serverConfig.isNameResolvable && serverConfig.hsName) {
+                otherHomeserver = serverConfig.hsName;
+            } else {
+                otherHomeserver = serverConfig.hsUrl;
+            }
+        }
+
         this.state = {
             defaultChosen: serverConfig.isDefault,
-            otherHomeserver: serverConfig.isDefault ? "" : (serverConfig.hsName || serverConfig.hsUrl),
+            otherHomeserver,
         };
     }
 
diff --git a/src/components/views/elements/ServerPicker.tsx b/src/components/views/elements/ServerPicker.tsx
index 7637ab7b8d..4551a49deb 100644
--- a/src/components/views/elements/ServerPicker.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/elements/ServerPicker.tsx
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ const ServerPicker = ({ title, dialogTitle, serverConfig, onServerConfigChange }
         </AccessibleButton>;
     }
 
-    let serverName = serverConfig.hsName;
+    let serverName = serverConfig.isNameResolvable ? serverConfig.hsName : serverConfig.hsUrl;
     if (serverConfig.hsNameIsDifferent) {
         serverName = <TextWithTooltip class="mx_Login_underlinedServerName" tooltip={serverConfig.hsUrl}>
             {serverConfig.hsName}
diff --git a/src/utils/AutoDiscoveryUtils.js b/src/utils/AutoDiscoveryUtils.js
index 94aa0c3544..18b6451d3e 100644
--- a/src/utils/AutoDiscoveryUtils.js
+++ b/src/utils/AutoDiscoveryUtils.js
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ export class ValidatedServerConfig {
     isUrl: string;
 
     isDefault: boolean;
+    // when the server config is based on static URLs the hsName is not resolvable and things may wish to use hsUrl
+    isNameResolvable: boolean;
 
     warning: string;
 }
@@ -161,7 +163,7 @@ export default class AutoDiscoveryUtils {
         const url = new URL(homeserverUrl);
         const serverName = url.hostname;
 
-        return AutoDiscoveryUtils.buildValidatedConfigFromDiscovery(serverName, result, syntaxOnly);
+        return AutoDiscoveryUtils.buildValidatedConfigFromDiscovery(serverName, result, syntaxOnly, true);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -179,12 +181,12 @@ export default class AutoDiscoveryUtils {
      * input.
      * @param {string} serverName The domain name the AutoDiscovery result is for.
      * @param {*} discoveryResult The AutoDiscovery result.
-     * @param {boolean} syntaxOnly If true, errors relating to liveliness of the servers will
-     * not be raised.
+     * @param {boolean} syntaxOnly If true, errors relating to liveliness of the servers will not be raised.
+     * @param {boolean} isSynthetic If true, then the discoveryResult was synthesised locally.
      * @returns {Promise<ValidatedServerConfig>} Resolves to the validated configuration.
      */
     static buildValidatedConfigFromDiscovery(
-        serverName: string, discoveryResult, syntaxOnly=false): ValidatedServerConfig {
+        serverName: string, discoveryResult, syntaxOnly=false, isSynthetic=false): ValidatedServerConfig {
         if (!discoveryResult || !discoveryResult["m.homeserver"]) {
             // This shouldn't happen without major misconfiguration, so we'll log a bit of information
             // in the log so we can find this bit of codee but otherwise tell teh user "it broke".
@@ -252,6 +254,7 @@ export default class AutoDiscoveryUtils {
             isUrl: preferredIdentityUrl,
             isDefault: false,
             warning: hsResult.error,
+            isNameResolvable: !isSynthetic,
         });
     }
 }