diff --git a/plugin/forward/README.md b/plugin/forward/README.md
index 911cfd697..00d8fead1 100644
--- a/plugin/forward/README.md
+++ b/plugin/forward/README.md
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ forward FROM TO...
 * **TO...** are the destination endpoints to forward to. The **TO** syntax allows you to specify
   a protocol, `tls://9.9.9.9`, `quic://94.140.14.14`, `https://9.9.9.9` (DoH defaults to `/dns-query` path) or `dns://` (or no protocol)
   for plain DNS. The number of upstreams is limited to 15. In addition to IP addresses and files (like `/etc/resolv.conf`), **TO** can also be
-  a hostname (e.g., `my-dns.svc.cluster.local`). Hostnames are resolved to IP addresses at startup.
+  a hostname (e.g., `my-dns.svc.cluster.local`). Hostnames are resolved to IP addresses at startup and are treated as
+  absolute DNS names even without a trailing dot; resolver search domains are not applied.
   See the `resolver` option below.
 
 Multiple upstreams are randomized (see `policy`) on first use. When a healthy proxy returns an error
diff --git a/plugin/forward/resolve.go b/plugin/forward/resolve.go
index b3b3b8cc9..70f19e497 100644
--- a/plugin/forward/resolve.go
+++ b/plugin/forward/resolve.go
@@ -195,9 +195,11 @@ func lookupHost(hostname string, resolvers []string) ([]string, error) {
 	return dnsLookup(hostname, resolvers)
 }
 
+var netLookupHost = net.LookupHost
+
 // systemLookup resolves using the system resolver (/etc/resolv.conf).
 func systemLookup(hostname string) ([]string, error) {
-	ips, err := net.LookupHost(hostname)
+	ips, err := netLookupHost(dns.Fqdn(hostname))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/plugin/forward/resolve_test.go b/plugin/forward/resolve_test.go
index c03ca772f..bac065989 100644
--- a/plugin/forward/resolve_test.go
+++ b/plugin/forward/resolve_test.go
@@ -661,3 +661,25 @@ func TestResolverWithHCOptions(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("expected opts %v, got %v", expectedOpts, f.opts)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestSystemLookupUsesFQDN(t *testing.T) {
+	original := netLookupHost
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		netLookupHost = original
+	})
+
+	var gotHostname string
+	netLookupHost = func(hostname string) ([]string, error) {
+		gotHostname = hostname
+		return []string{"192.0.2.1"}, nil
+	}
+
+	_, err := systemLookup("dns.google")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if gotHostname != "dns.google." {
+		t.Errorf("expected system resolver lookup for %q, got %q", "dns.google.", gotHostname)
+	}
+}