diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 362705af..a273ef2a 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ byobu (4.14) unreleased; urgency=low
 
   * usr/share/byobu/profiles/tmux:
     - getting tmux keybindings much closer!
+  * usr/lib/byobu/ec2_cost, usr/lib/byobu/hostname,
+    usr/lib/byobu/ip_address:
+    - use wget instead of host to check for metadata
 
  -- Dustin Kirkland <kirkland@ubuntu.com>  Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:16:29 -0500
 
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/ec2_cost b/usr/lib/byobu/ec2_cost
index a396bf9a..c01e76e8 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/ec2_cost
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/ec2_cost
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ for arg in $@; do
 done
 
 # Try to use metadata service
-if host 169.254.169.254 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+if wget -q -O- --timeout=1 http://169.254.169.254 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
 	zone=$(wget -q -O - http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/placement/availability-zone)
 	. "$BYOBU_PREFIX/share/$PKG/ec2/rates.${zone%?}"
 	type=$(wget -q -O - http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/instance-type | sed -e "s/\./_/g")
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/hostname b/usr/lib/byobu/hostname
index 4460c206..8fa33321 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/hostname
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/hostname
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ if [ "$1" = "--detail" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
-if host 169.254.169.254 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+if wget -q -O- --timeout=1 http://169.254.169.254 2>&1; then
 	# We're in EC2, so get our public hostname
 	h=$(wget -q -O - http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/public-hostname)
 else
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/ip_address b/usr/lib/byobu/ip_address
index c06b4703..ed5c6df5 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/ip_address
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/ip_address
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ case "$IPV6" in
 		ipaddr=${ipaddr%%/*}
 	;;
 	*)
-		if host 169.254.169.254 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		if wget -q -O- --timeout=1 http://169.254.169.254 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
 			# We're in EC2, so get our public IP address
 			ipaddr=$(wget -q -O- http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/public-ipv4)
 		else