diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 4ee3daa8..3e985a3c 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ gem 'base32'
 gem 'coveralls', require: false
 gem 'sanitize'
 gem 'will_paginate'
+gem 'simpleidn'
 
 platform :mri, :rbx do
   gem 'magic' # sudo apt-get install file, For OSX: brew install libmagic
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index a07b695a..ca0b2d7d 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ GEM
       json (~> 1.8)
       simplecov-html (~> 0.10.0)
     simplecov-html (0.10.0)
+    simpleidn (0.0.6)
     sinatra (1.4.6)
       rack (~> 1.4)
       rack-protection (~> 1.4)
@@ -277,6 +278,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   shotgun
   sidekiq
   simplecov
+  simpleidn
   sinatra
   sinatra-flash
   sinatra-xsendfile
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 49f89cfe..6bd93497 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ desc 'Compile domain map for nginx'
 task :compile_domain_map => [:environment] do
   File.open('./files/map.txt', 'w') do |file|
     Site.exclude(domain: nil).exclude(domain: '').select(:username,:domain).all.collect do |site|
-      file.write ".#{site.domain} #{site.username};\n"
+      file.write ".#{site.values[:domain]} #{site.username};\n"
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/api.rb b/app/api.rb
index ff75e7ba..b9d5ed8e 100644
--- a/app/api.rb
+++ b/app/api.rb
@@ -102,7 +102,6 @@ end
 get '/api/info' do
   if params[:sitename]
     site = Site[username: params[:sitename]]
-
     api_error 400, 'site_not_found', "could not find site #{params[:sitename]}" if site.nil? || site.is_banned
     api_success api_info_for(site)
   else
diff --git a/app/settings.rb b/app/settings.rb
index 025e251b..816b6280 100644
--- a/app/settings.rb
+++ b/app/settings.rb
@@ -225,6 +225,16 @@ post '/settings/:username/custom_domain' do
 
   @site.domain = params[:domain]
 
+  begin
+    Socket.gethostbyname @site.values[:domain]
+  rescue SocketError => e
+    if e.message =~ /name or service not known/i
+      flash[:error] = 'Domain needs to be valid and already registered.'
+      redirect "/settings/#{@site.username}#custom_domain"
+    end
+    raise e
+  end
+
   if @site.valid?
     @site.save_changes
     flash[:success] = 'The domain has been successfully updated.'
diff --git a/models/site.rb b/models/site.rb
index 6e5e6ef3..08a22f68 100644
--- a/models/site.rb
+++ b/models/site.rb
@@ -812,6 +812,14 @@ class Site < Sequel::Model
 #    super
 #  end
 
+  def domain=(domain)
+    super SimpleIDN.to_ascii(domain)
+  end
+
+  def domain
+    SimpleIDN.to_unicode values[:domain]
+  end
+
   def validate
     super
 
@@ -864,15 +872,10 @@ class Site < Sequel::Model
     end
 
     if !values[:domain].nil? && !values[:domain].empty?
-
       if values[:domain] =~ /neocities\.org/ || values[:domain] =~ /neocitiesops\.net/
         errors.add :domain, "Domain is already being used.. by Neocities."
       end
 
-      if !(values[:domain] =~ /^[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9]+$/i) || values[:domain].length > 90
-        errors.add :domain, "Domain provided is not valid. Must take the form of domain.com"
-      end
-
       site = Site[domain: values[:domain]]
       if !site.nil? && site.id != self.id
         errors.add :domain, "Domain provided is already being used by another site, please choose another."