diff --git a/jupyterhub/app.py b/jupyterhub/app.py
index 65cc7ce9..d4525646 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/app.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/app.py
@@ -239,10 +239,6 @@ class JupyterHub(Application):
         Only used when subdomains are involved.
         """
     )
-    def _subdomain_host_default(self):
-        # FIXME: use xip.io for debugging
-        return (self.ip or '127.0.0.1') + '.xip.io:%i' % self.port
-    
     
     port = Integer(8000, config=True,
         help="The public facing port of the proxy"
@@ -312,7 +308,6 @@ class JupyterHub(Application):
     hub_ip = Unicode('127.0.0.1', config=True,
         help="The ip for this process"
     )
-    
     hub_prefix = URLPrefix('/hub/', config=True,
         help="The prefix for the hub server. Must not be '/'"
     )
@@ -598,11 +593,15 @@ class JupyterHub(Application):
             q = self.db.query(orm.Hub)
             assert q.count() <= 1
             self._local.hub = q.first()
+            if self.use_subdomains:
+                self._local.hub.host = self.subdomain_host
         return self._local.hub
     
     @hub.setter
     def hub(self, hub):
         self._local.hub = hub
+        if self.use_subdomains:
+            hub.host = self.subdomain_host
     
     @property
     def proxy(self):
@@ -655,6 +654,10 @@ class JupyterHub(Application):
             server.ip = self.hub_ip
             server.port = self.hub_port
             server.base_url = self.hub_prefix
+        if self.use_subdomains:
+            if not self.subdomain_host:
+                raise ValueError("Must specify subdomain_host when using subdomains."
+                " This should be the public domain[:port] of the Hub.")
 
         self.db.commit()
     
@@ -793,9 +796,6 @@ class JupyterHub(Application):
             )
             self.db.add(self.proxy)
             self.db.commit()
-        if self.use_subdomains:
-            # assert not ip-address (self.ip)
-            assert self.subdomain_host
         self.proxy.auth_token = self.proxy_auth_token # not persisted
         self.proxy.log = self.log
         self.proxy.public_server.ip = self.ip
diff --git a/jupyterhub/orm.py b/jupyterhub/orm.py
index ac394767..bd824336 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/orm.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/orm.py
@@ -253,6 +253,7 @@ class Hub(Base):
     id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
     _server_id = Column(Integer, ForeignKey('servers.id'))
     server = relationship(Server, primaryjoin=_server_id == Server.id)
+    host = ''
     
     @property
     def api_url(self):
diff --git a/jupyterhub/spawner.py b/jupyterhub/spawner.py
index 14b5735a..fb6a7075 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/spawner.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/spawner.py
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ class Spawner(LoggingConfigurable):
             '--port=%i' % self.user.server.port,
             '--cookie-name=%s' % self.user.server.cookie_name,
             '--base-url=%s' % self.user.server.base_url,
+            '--hub-host=%s' % ('//' + self.hub.host) if self.hub.host else '',
             '--hub-prefix=%s' % self.hub.server.base_url,
             '--hub-api-url=%s' % self.hub.api_url,
             ]
diff --git a/scripts/jupyterhub-singleuser b/scripts/jupyterhub-singleuser
index e82ac6ad..4ec76ed0 100755
--- a/scripts/jupyterhub-singleuser
+++ b/scripts/jupyterhub-singleuser
@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@ class JupyterHubLoginHandler(LoginHandler):
 
 class JupyterHubLogoutHandler(LogoutHandler):
     def get(self):
-        self.redirect(url_path_join(self.settings['hub_prefix'], 'logout'))
+        self.redirect(
+            self.settings['hub_host'] +
+            url_path_join(self.settings['hub_prefix'], 'logout'))
 
 
 # register new hub related command-line aliases
@@ -113,6 +115,7 @@ aliases.update({
     'user' : 'SingleUserNotebookApp.user',
     'cookie-name': 'SingleUserNotebookApp.cookie_name',
     'hub-prefix': 'SingleUserNotebookApp.hub_prefix',
+    'hub-host': 'SingleUserNotebookApp.hub_host',
     'hub-api-url': 'SingleUserNotebookApp.hub_api_url',
     'base-url': 'SingleUserNotebookApp.base_url',
 })
@@ -141,6 +144,7 @@ class SingleUserNotebookApp(NotebookApp):
         self.log.name = new
     cookie_name = Unicode(config=True)
     hub_prefix = Unicode(config=True)
+    hub_host = Unicode(config=True)
     hub_api_url = Unicode(config=True)
     aliases = aliases
     open_browser = False
@@ -194,22 +198,22 @@ class SingleUserNotebookApp(NotebookApp):
         s['user'] = self.user
         s['hub_api_key'] = env.pop('JPY_API_TOKEN')
         s['hub_prefix'] = self.hub_prefix
+        s['hub_host'] = self.hub_host
         s['cookie_name'] = self.cookie_name
-        s['login_url'] = self.hub_prefix
+        s['login_url'] = self.hub_host + self.hub_prefix
         s['hub_api_url'] = self.hub_api_url
-        s['csp_report_uri'] = url_path_join(self.hub_prefix, 'security/csp-report')
-        
+        s['csp_report_uri'] = self.hub_host + url_path_join(self.hub_prefix, 'security/csp-report')
         super(SingleUserNotebookApp, self).init_webapp()
         self.patch_templates()
     
     def patch_templates(self):
         """Patch page templates to add Hub-related buttons"""
         
-        self.jinja_template_vars['logo_url'] = url_path_join(self.hub_prefix, 'logo')
+        self.jinja_template_vars['logo_url'] = self.hub_host + url_path_join(self.hub_prefix, 'logo')
         env = self.web_app.settings['jinja2_env']
         
         env.globals['hub_control_panel_url'] = \
-            url_path_join(self.hub_prefix, 'home')
+            self.hub_host + url_path_join(self.hub_prefix, 'home')
         
         # patch jinja env loading to modify page template
         def get_page(name):