diff --git a/internal/ghinstance/host.go b/internal/ghinstance/host.go
index 642dd0846..76639ed26 100644
--- a/internal/ghinstance/host.go
+++ b/internal/ghinstance/host.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package ghinstance
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -42,6 +43,21 @@ func NormalizeHostname(h string) string {
 	return hostname
 }
 
+func HostnameValidator(v interface{}) error {
+	hostname, valid := v.(string)
+	if !valid {
+		return errors.New("hostname is not a string")
+	}
+
+	if len(strings.TrimSpace(hostname)) < 1 {
+		return errors.New("a value is required")
+	}
+	if strings.ContainsRune(hostname, '/') || strings.ContainsRune(hostname, ':') {
+		return errors.New("invalid hostname")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func GraphQLEndpoint(hostname string) string {
 	if IsEnterprise(hostname) {
 		return fmt.Sprintf("https://%s/api/graphql", hostname)
diff --git a/internal/ghinstance/host_test.go b/internal/ghinstance/host_test.go
index 10a40a432..787569c68 100644
--- a/internal/ghinstance/host_test.go
+++ b/internal/ghinstance/host_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package ghinstance
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
 func TestOverridableDefault(t *testing.T) {
@@ -97,6 +99,50 @@ func TestNormalizeHostname(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestHostnameValidator(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    interface{}
+		wantsErr bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "valid hostname",
+			input:    "internal.instance",
+			wantsErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "hostname with slashes",
+			input:    "//internal.instance",
+			wantsErr: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "empty hostname",
+			input:    "   ",
+			wantsErr: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "hostname with colon",
+			input:    "internal.instance:2205",
+			wantsErr: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "non-string hostname",
+			input:    62,
+			wantsErr: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			err := HostnameValidator(tt.input)
+			if tt.wantsErr {
+				assert.Error(t, err)
+				return
+			}
+			assert.Equal(t, nil, err)
+		})
+	}
+}
 func TestGraphQLEndpoint(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		host string
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/api/api.go b/pkg/cmd/api/api.go
index 9ec4de435..4d64a260b 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/api/api.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/api/api.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 type ApiOptions struct {
 	IO *iostreams.IOStreams
 
+	Hostname            string
 	RequestMethod       string
 	RequestMethodPassed bool
 	RequestPath         string
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@ original query accepts an '$endCursor: String' variable and that it fetches the
 			    }
 			  }
 			'
-			
+
 			$ gh api graphql --paginate -f query='
 			  query($endCursor: String) {
 			    viewer {
@@ -121,6 +122,8 @@ original query accepts an '$endCursor: String' variable and that it fetches the
 				GITHUB_TOKEN: an authentication token for github.com API requests.
 
 				GITHUB_ENTERPRISE_TOKEN: an authentication token for API requests to GitHub Enterprise.
+
+				GH_HOST: make the request to a GitHub host other than github.com.
 			`),
 		},
 		Args: cobra.ExactArgs(1),
@@ -128,6 +131,12 @@ original query accepts an '$endCursor: String' variable and that it fetches the
 			opts.RequestPath = args[0]
 			opts.RequestMethodPassed = c.Flags().Changed("method")
 
+			if c.Flags().Changed("hostname") {
+				if err := ghinstance.HostnameValidator(opts.Hostname); err != nil {
+					return &cmdutil.FlagError{Err: fmt.Errorf("error parsing --hostname: %w", err)}
+				}
+			}
+
 			if opts.Paginate && !strings.EqualFold(opts.RequestMethod, "GET") && opts.RequestPath != "graphql" {
 				return &cmdutil.FlagError{Err: errors.New(`the '--paginate' option is not supported for non-GET requests`)}
 			}
@@ -142,6 +151,7 @@ original query accepts an '$endCursor: String' variable and that it fetches the
 		},
 	}
 
+	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&opts.Hostname, "hostname", "", "The GitHub hostname for the request (default \"github.com\")")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.RequestMethod, "method", "X", "GET", "The HTTP method for the request")
 	cmd.Flags().StringArrayVarP(&opts.MagicFields, "field", "F", nil, "Add a parameter of inferred type")
 	cmd.Flags().StringArrayVarP(&opts.RawFields, "raw-field", "f", nil, "Add a string parameter")
@@ -206,6 +216,9 @@ func apiRun(opts *ApiOptions) error {
 	}
 
 	host := ghinstance.OverridableDefault()
+	if opts.Hostname != "" {
+		host = opts.Hostname
+	}
 
 	hasNextPage := true
 	for hasNextPage {
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/api/api_test.go b/pkg/cmd/api/api_test.go
index a810fa7fc..6cd693ce1 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/api/api_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/api/api_test.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ func Test_NewCmdApi(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "no flags",
 			cli:  "graphql",
 			wants: ApiOptions{
+				Hostname:            "",
 				RequestMethod:       "GET",
 				RequestMethodPassed: false,
 				RequestPath:         "graphql",
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ func Test_NewCmdApi(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "override method",
 			cli:  "repos/octocat/Spoon-Knife -XDELETE",
 			wants: ApiOptions{
+				Hostname:            "",
 				RequestMethod:       "DELETE",
 				RequestMethodPassed: true,
 				RequestPath:         "repos/octocat/Spoon-Knife",
@@ -65,6 +67,7 @@ func Test_NewCmdApi(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "with fields",
 			cli:  "graphql -f query=QUERY -F body=@file.txt",
 			wants: ApiOptions{
+				Hostname:            "",
 				RequestMethod:       "GET",
 				RequestMethodPassed: false,
 				RequestPath:         "graphql",
@@ -82,6 +85,7 @@ func Test_NewCmdApi(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "with headers",
 			cli:  "user -H 'accept: text/plain' -i",
 			wants: ApiOptions{
+				Hostname:            "",
 				RequestMethod:       "GET",
 				RequestMethodPassed: false,
 				RequestPath:         "user",
@@ -99,6 +103,7 @@ func Test_NewCmdApi(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "with pagination",
 			cli:  "repos/OWNER/REPO/issues --paginate",
 			wants: ApiOptions{
+				Hostname:            "",
 				RequestMethod:       "GET",
 				RequestMethodPassed: false,
 				RequestPath:         "repos/OWNER/REPO/issues",
@@ -116,6 +121,7 @@ func Test_NewCmdApi(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "with silenced output",
 			cli:  "repos/OWNER/REPO/issues --silent",
 			wants: ApiOptions{
+				Hostname:            "",
 				RequestMethod:       "GET",
 				RequestMethodPassed: false,
 				RequestPath:         "repos/OWNER/REPO/issues",
@@ -138,6 +144,7 @@ func Test_NewCmdApi(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "GraphQL pagination",
 			cli:  "-XPOST graphql --paginate",
 			wants: ApiOptions{
+				Hostname:            "",
 				RequestMethod:       "POST",
 				RequestMethodPassed: true,
 				RequestPath:         "graphql",
@@ -160,6 +167,7 @@ func Test_NewCmdApi(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "with request body from file",
 			cli:  "user --input myfile",
 			wants: ApiOptions{
+				Hostname:            "",
 				RequestMethod:       "GET",
 				RequestMethodPassed: false,
 				RequestPath:         "user",
@@ -178,10 +186,29 @@ func Test_NewCmdApi(t *testing.T) {
 			cli:      "",
 			wantsErr: true,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "with hostname",
+			cli:  "graphql --hostname tom.petty",
+			wants: ApiOptions{
+				Hostname:            "tom.petty",
+				RequestMethod:       "GET",
+				RequestMethodPassed: false,
+				RequestPath:         "graphql",
+				RequestInputFile:    "",
+				RawFields:           []string(nil),
+				MagicFields:         []string(nil),
+				RequestHeaders:      []string(nil),
+				ShowResponseHeaders: false,
+				Paginate:            false,
+				Silent:              false,
+			},
+			wantsErr: false,
+		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			cmd := NewCmdApi(f, func(o *ApiOptions) error {
+				assert.Equal(t, tt.wants.Hostname, o.Hostname)
 				assert.Equal(t, tt.wants.RequestMethod, o.RequestMethod)
 				assert.Equal(t, tt.wants.RequestMethodPassed, o.RequestMethodPassed)
 				assert.Equal(t, tt.wants.RequestPath, o.RequestPath)
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/auth/login/login.go b/pkg/cmd/auth/login/login.go
index 7ded3056b..929d6b61d 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/auth/login/login.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/auth/login/login.go
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func NewCmdLogin(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*LoginOptions) error) *cobra.Comm
 			}
 
 			if cmd.Flags().Changed("hostname") {
-				if err := hostnameValidator(opts.Hostname); err != nil {
+				if err := ghinstance.HostnameValidator(opts.Hostname); err != nil {
 					return &cmdutil.FlagError{Err: fmt.Errorf("error parsing --hostname: %w", err)}
 				}
 			}
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ func loginRun(opts *LoginOptions) error {
 		if isEnterprise {
 			err := prompt.SurveyAskOne(&survey.Input{
 				Message: "GHE hostname:",
-			}, &hostname, survey.WithValidator(hostnameValidator))
+			}, &hostname, survey.WithValidator(ghinstance.HostnameValidator))
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("could not prompt: %w", err)
 			}
@@ -307,17 +307,6 @@ func loginRun(opts *LoginOptions) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func hostnameValidator(v interface{}) error {
-	val := v.(string)
-	if len(strings.TrimSpace(val)) < 1 {
-		return errors.New("a value is required")
-	}
-	if strings.ContainsRune(val, '/') || strings.ContainsRune(val, ':') {
-		return errors.New("invalid hostname")
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
 func getAccessTokenTip(hostname string) string {
 	ghHostname := hostname
 	if ghHostname == "" {