diff --git a/console/novncd b/console/novncd
index 93ff728a..7ae4299d 100755
--- a/console/novncd
+++ b/console/novncd
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 # through an SSH tunnel or a local Unix socket.
 
 import argparse
-import ipaddress
 import logging
 import os
 import socket
@@ -23,6 +22,7 @@ from websockify import ProxyRequestHandler, WebSocketProxy  # noqa: E402
 
 from console.sshtunnels import open_tunnel, tunnel_target  # noqa: E402
 from vrtManager.connection import CONN_SOCKET, CONN_SSH  # noqa: E402
+from vrtManager.util import is_loopback  # noqa: E402
 from webvirtcloud.settings import WS_HOST, WS_PORT  # noqa: E402
 
 
@@ -77,14 +77,6 @@ def get_connection_infos(token):
 WILDCARD = (None, "", "0.0.0.0", "::")
 
 
-def is_loopback(address):
-    """127.0.0.0/8, ::1 or localhost: reachable only on the compute itself."""
-    try:
-        return ipaddress.ip_address(address).is_loopback
-    except ValueError:
-        return address == "localhost"
-
-
 class ConsoleClient:
     """What a console websocket is joined to; ConsoleProxyHandler is the
     websockify handler that runs it."""
diff --git a/console/tests/test_views.py b/console/tests/test_views.py
index f76cce0c..10c08dec 100644
--- a/console/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/console/tests/test_views.py
@@ -270,12 +270,18 @@ class ConsoleViewsTestCase(TestCase):
 
     @patch("console.views.wvmInstance")
     def test_a_tcp_hosts_loopback_console_says_why_it_cannot_open(self, mock_wvm):
+        # the running VM's listener decides, as for novncd, not its next-start settings
         Compute.objects.filter(pk=self.compute.pk).update(type=1)
-        mock_wvm.return_value.get_console_type.return_value = "vnc"
-        mock_wvm.return_value.console_listens_locally.return_value = True
+        conn = mock_wvm.return_value
+        conn.get_console_type.return_value = "vnc"
+        conn.get_console_socket.return_value = None
+        conn.console_listens_locally.return_value = False  # next start: all interfaces
         self.client.force_login(self.admin_user)
-        response = self.client.get(self.url)
-        self.assertContains(response, "This console listens only on its host")
+        for live, refused in (("127.0.0.1", True), ("::1", True), ("0.0.0.0", False), ("192.0.2.40", False)):
+            with self.subTest(live=live):
+                conn.get_console_listener_addr.return_value = live
+                response = self.client.get(self.url)
+                self.assertEqual("This console listens only on its host" in response.content.decode(), refused)
 
     @patch("console.views.wvmInstance")
     def test_both_pages_connect_to_novncd_behind_the_panels_own_address(self, mock_wvm):
diff --git a/console/views.py b/console/views.py
index f1c40e4c..007bf093 100644
--- a/console/views.py
+++ b/console/views.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ from instances.utils import can_open_console
 from libvirt import libvirtError
 from vrtManager.connection import CONN_TCP, CONN_TLS
 from vrtManager.instance import wvmInstance
+from vrtManager.util import is_loopback
 
 
 def to_bool(val, default=False):
@@ -57,8 +58,10 @@ def console(request, compute_id, uuid):
         console_passwd = conn.get_console_passwd()
         running = conn.instance.isActive()
         # novncd reaches a console that listens on its host's loopback only
-        # through SSH (or on this host)
-        unreachable = instance.compute.type in (CONN_TCP, CONN_TLS) and conn.console_listens_locally()
+        # through SSH (or on this host); the running VM's listener, as novncd sees it
+        unreachable = instance.compute.type in (CONN_TCP, CONN_TLS) and bool(
+            conn.get_console_socket() or is_loopback(conn.get_console_listener_addr())
+        )
     except (libvirtError, ValueError, IndexError, Instance.DoesNotExist):
         running = unreachable = False
         console_type = None
diff --git a/vrtManager/util.py b/vrtManager/util.py
index 30d7b6d2..db87625b 100644
--- a/vrtManager/util.py
+++ b/vrtManager/util.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import ipaddress
 import random
 import secrets
 import re
@@ -224,3 +225,11 @@ def vol_driver_type(vol_format, pool_type=None):
     if pool_type == "disk" or vol_format in (None, "", "none", "unknown", "iso"):
         return "raw"
     return vol_format
+
+
+def is_loopback(address):
+    """127.0.0.0/8, ::1 or localhost: reachable only on that host itself."""
+    try:
+        return ipaddress.ip_address(address).is_loopback
+    except ValueError:
+        return address == "localhost"