diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index 0d33c16284d..50f03d967ae 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ This serves two purposes:
 ### Changed
 - When a navigation group is set in front matter, it will now be used regardless of the subdirectory configuration in https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/1703 (fixes https://github.com/hydephp/develop/issues/1515)
 - Use late static bindings to support overriding data collections file finding in https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/1717 (fixes https://github.com/hydephp/develop/issues/1716)
+- Method `Hyde::hasSiteUrl()` now returns false if the site URL is for localhost in https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/1726
+- Method `Hyde::url()` will now return a relative URL instead of throwing an exception when supplied a path even if the site URL is not set in https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/1726
 
 ### Deprecated
 - for soon-to-be removed features.
@@ -32,3 +34,17 @@ This serves two purposes:
 
 ### Security
 - in case of vulnerabilities.
+
+### Extra information
+
+This release contains changes to how HydePHP behaves when a site URL is not set by the user.
+
+These changes are made to reduce the chance of the default `localhost` value showing up in production environments.
+
+Most notably, HydePHP now considers that default site URL `localhost` to mean that a site URL is not set, as the user has not set it.
+This means that things like automatic canonical URLs will not be added, as Hyde won't know how to make them without a site URL. 
+The previous behaviour was that Hyde used `localhost` in canonical URLs, which is never useful in production environments.
+
+For this reason, we felt it worth it to make this change in a minor release, as it has a such large benefit for sites.
+
+You can read more about the details and design decisions of this change in the following pull request https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/1726.
diff --git a/packages/framework/src/Foundation/Kernel/Hyperlinks.php b/packages/framework/src/Foundation/Kernel/Hyperlinks.php
index 98b2acdcac8..9cec5ca989c 100644
--- a/packages/framework/src/Foundation/Kernel/Hyperlinks.php
+++ b/packages/framework/src/Foundation/Kernel/Hyperlinks.php
@@ -126,10 +126,14 @@ public function asset(string $name, bool $preferQualifiedUrl = false): string
 
     /**
      * Check if a site base URL has been set in config (or .env).
+     *
+     * The default value is `http://localhost`, which is not considered a valid site URL.
      */
     public function hasSiteUrl(): bool
     {
-        return ! blank(Config::getNullableString('hyde.url'));
+        $value = Config::getNullableString('hyde.url');
+
+        return ! blank($value) && $value !== 'http://localhost';
     }
 
     /**
@@ -147,6 +151,13 @@ public function url(string $path = ''): string
             return rtrim(rtrim(Config::getString('hyde.url'), '/')."/$path", '/');
         }
 
+        // Since v1.7.0, we return the relative path even if the base URL is not set,
+        // as this is more likely to be the desired behavior the user's expecting.
+        if (! blank($path)) {
+            return $path;
+        }
+
+        // User is trying to get the base URL, but it's not set
         throw new BaseUrlNotSetException();
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/framework/src/Framework/Actions/PostBuildTasks/GenerateSitemap.php b/packages/framework/src/Framework/Actions/PostBuildTasks/GenerateSitemap.php
index e2e15c55809..4409ede2934 100644
--- a/packages/framework/src/Framework/Actions/PostBuildTasks/GenerateSitemap.php
+++ b/packages/framework/src/Framework/Actions/PostBuildTasks/GenerateSitemap.php
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 use Hyde\Framework\Concerns\InteractsWithDirectories;
 use Hyde\Framework\Features\XmlGenerators\SitemapGenerator;
 
-use function blank;
 use function file_put_contents;
 
 class GenerateSitemap extends PostBuildTask
@@ -22,7 +21,7 @@ class GenerateSitemap extends PostBuildTask
 
     public function handle(): void
     {
-        if (blank(Hyde::url()) || str_starts_with(Hyde::url(), 'http://localhost')) {
+        if (! Hyde::hasSiteUrl()) {
             $this->skip('Cannot generate sitemap without a valid base URL');
         }
 
diff --git a/packages/framework/tests/Feature/Foundation/HyperlinksTest.php b/packages/framework/tests/Feature/Foundation/HyperlinksTest.php
index 10eb5db949d..bd811f612e1 100644
--- a/packages/framework/tests/Feature/Foundation/HyperlinksTest.php
+++ b/packages/framework/tests/Feature/Foundation/HyperlinksTest.php
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ public function testAssetHelperResolvesPathsForNestedPages()
 
     public function testAssetHelperReturnsQualifiedAbsoluteUriWhenRequestedAndSiteHasBaseUrl()
     {
-        $this->assertSame('http://localhost/media/test.jpg', $this->class->asset('test.jpg', true));
+        config(['hyde.url' => 'https://example.org']);
+        $this->assertSame('https://example.org/media/test.jpg', $this->class->asset('test.jpg', true));
     }
 
     public function testAssetHelperReturnsDefaultRelativePathWhenQualifiedAbsoluteUriIsRequestedButSiteHasNoBaseUrl()
@@ -65,11 +66,22 @@ public function testAssetHelperReturnsDefaultRelativePathWhenQualifiedAbsoluteUr
         $this->assertSame('media/test.jpg', $this->class->asset('test.jpg', true));
     }
 
+    public function testAssetHelperReturnsDefaultRelativePathWhenQualifiedAbsoluteUriIsRequestedButSiteBaseUrlIsLocalhost()
+    {
+        $this->assertSame('media/test.jpg', $this->class->asset('test.jpg', true));
+    }
+
     public function testAssetHelperReturnsInputWhenQualifiedAbsoluteUriIsRequestedButImageIsAlreadyQualified()
     {
         $this->assertSame('http://localhost/media/test.jpg', $this->class->asset('http://localhost/media/test.jpg', true));
     }
 
+    public function testAssetHelperReturnsInputWhenQualifiedAbsoluteUriIsRequestedButImageIsAlreadyQualifiedRegardlessOfMatchingTheConfiguredUrl()
+    {
+        config(['hyde.url' => 'https://example.org']);
+        $this->assertSame('http://localhost/media/test.jpg', $this->class->asset('http://localhost/media/test.jpg', true));
+    }
+
     public function testAssetHelperUsesConfiguredMediaDirectory()
     {
         Hyde::setMediaDirectory('_assets');
diff --git a/packages/framework/tests/Feature/HelpersTest.php b/packages/framework/tests/Feature/HelpersTest.php
index a28e49e9497..733a832e7ec 100644
--- a/packages/framework/tests/Feature/HelpersTest.php
+++ b/packages/framework/tests/Feature/HelpersTest.php
@@ -77,7 +77,14 @@ public function testAssetFunction()
     public function testAssetFunctionWithQualifiedUrl()
     {
         $this->assertSame(Hyde::asset('foo', true), asset('foo', true));
-        $this->assertSame('http://localhost/media/foo', asset('foo', true));
+        $this->assertSame('media/foo', asset('foo', true));
+    }
+
+    /** @covers ::asset */
+    public function testAssetFunctionWithQualifiedUrlAndSetBaseUrl()
+    {
+        $this->app['config']->set(['hyde.url' => 'https://example.com']);
+        $this->assertSame('https://example.com/media/foo', asset('foo', true));
     }
 
     /** @covers ::asset */
@@ -94,6 +101,13 @@ public function testAssetFunctionWithQualifiedUrlAndNoBaseUrl()
         $this->assertSame('media/foo', asset('foo', true));
     }
 
+    /** @covers ::asset */
+    public function testAssetFunctionWithQualifiedUrlAndLocalhostBaseUrl()
+    {
+        $this->app['config']->set(['hyde.url' => 'http://localhost']);
+        $this->assertSame('media/foo', asset('foo', true));
+    }
+
     /** @covers ::asset */
     public function testAssetFunctionFromNestedPage()
     {
@@ -145,17 +159,39 @@ public function testUrlFunction()
 
     /** @covers ::url */
     public function testUrlFunctionWithBaseUrl()
+    {
+        $this->app['config']->set(['hyde.url' => 'https://example.com']);
+        $this->assertSame('https://example.com/foo', url('foo'));
+    }
+
+    /** @covers ::url */
+    public function testUrlFunctionWithLocalhostBaseUrl()
     {
         $this->app['config']->set(['hyde.url' => 'http://localhost']);
-        $this->assertSame('http://localhost/foo', url('foo'));
+        $this->assertSame('foo', url('foo'));
     }
 
     /** @covers ::url */
     public function testUrlFunctionWithoutBaseUrl()
     {
         $this->app['config']->set(['hyde.url' => null]);
+        $this->assertSame('foo', url('foo'));
+    }
+
+    /** @covers ::url */
+    public function testUrlFunctionWithoutBaseUrlOrPath()
+    {
+        $this->app['config']->set(['hyde.url' => null]);
+        $this->expectException(\Hyde\Framework\Exceptions\BaseUrlNotSetException::class);
+        $this->assertNull(url());
+    }
+
+    /** @covers ::url */
+    public function testUrlFunctionWithLocalhostBaseUrlButNoPath()
+    {
+        $this->app['config']->set(['hyde.url' => 'http://localhost']);
         $this->expectException(\Hyde\Framework\Exceptions\BaseUrlNotSetException::class);
-        $this->assertNull(url('foo'));
+        $this->assertNull(url());
     }
 
     /** @covers ::url */
diff --git a/packages/framework/tests/Feature/SitesWithoutBaseUrlAreHandledGracefullyTest.php b/packages/framework/tests/Feature/SitesWithoutBaseUrlAreHandledGracefullyTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cd4e9373605
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/framework/tests/Feature/SitesWithoutBaseUrlAreHandledGracefullyTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Hyde\Framework\Testing\Feature;
+
+use Hyde\Hyde;
+use Hyde\Testing\TestCase;
+use Hyde\Pages\MarkdownPage;
+use Hyde\Pages\MarkdownPost;
+use Hyde\Pages\DocumentationPage;
+
+/**
+ * High level test to ensure that sites without a base URL are handled gracefully.
+ *
+ * For example: In case a user forgot to set a base URL, we don't want their site
+ * to have localhost links in the compiled HTML output since that would break
+ * things when deployed to production. So we fall back to relative links.
+ *
+ * Some things like sitemaps and RSS feeds cannot be generated without a base URL,
+ * as their schemas generally do not allow relative URLs. In those cases, we
+ * don't generate files at all, and we don't add any links to them either.
+ *
+ * @coversNothing This test is not testing a specific class, but a general feature of the framework.
+ */
+class SitesWithoutBaseUrlAreHandledGracefullyTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public static function pageClassProvider(): array
+    {
+        return [
+            [MarkdownPage::class],
+            [MarkdownPost::class],
+            [DocumentationPage::class],
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /** @dataProvider pageClassProvider */
+    public function testLocalhostLinksAreNotAddedToCompiledHtmlWhenBaseUrlIsNull(string $class)
+    {
+        config(['hyde.url' => null]);
+
+        $this->assertStringNotContainsString('http://localhost', $this->getHtml($class));
+    }
+
+    /** @dataProvider pageClassProvider */
+    public function testLocalhostLinksAreNotAddedToCompiledHtmlWhenBaseUrlIsNotSet(string $class)
+    {
+        config(['hyde.url' => '']);
+
+        $this->assertStringNotContainsString('http://localhost', $this->getHtml($class));
+    }
+
+    /** @dataProvider pageClassProvider */
+    public function testLocalhostLinksAreNotAddedToCompiledHtmlWhenBaseUrlIsSetToLocalhost(string $class)
+    {
+        config(['hyde.url' => 'http://localhost']);
+
+        $this->assertStringNotContainsString('http://localhost', $this->getHtml($class));
+    }
+
+    /** @dataProvider pageClassProvider */
+    public function testSiteUrlLinksAreAddedToCompiledHtmlWhenBaseUrlIsSetToValidUrl(string $class)
+    {
+        config(['hyde.url' => 'https://example.com']);
+
+        $this->assertStringNotContainsString('http://localhost', $this->getHtml($class));
+    }
+
+    protected function getHtml(string $class): string
+    {
+        $page = new $class('foo');
+
+        Hyde::shareViewData($page);
+
+        return $page->compile();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/packages/framework/tests/Feature/Views/MetadataViewTest.php b/packages/framework/tests/Feature/Views/MetadataViewTest.php
index 199759644d4..54ba018d2d4 100644
--- a/packages/framework/tests/Feature/Views/MetadataViewTest.php
+++ b/packages/framework/tests/Feature/Views/MetadataViewTest.php
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ protected function setUp(): void
     {
         parent::setUp();
 
-        config(['hyde.url' => 'http://localhost']);
+        config(['hyde.url' => 'https://example.com']);
         config(['hyde.enable_cache_busting' => false]);
     }
 
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ protected function getDefaultTags(): array
             '<meta charset="utf-8">',
             '<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">',
             '<meta id="meta-color-scheme" name="color-scheme" content="light">',
-            '<link rel="sitemap" href="http://localhost/sitemap.xml" type="application/xml" title="Sitemap">',
+            '<link rel="sitemap" href="https://example.com/sitemap.xml" type="application/xml" title="Sitemap">',
             '<meta name="generator" content="HydePHP v'.HydeKernel::VERSION.'">',
             '<meta property="og:site_name" content="HydePHP">',
         ];
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ public function testMetadataTagsInEmptyBladePage()
         $assertions = $this->assertSee('test', array_merge($this->getDefaultTags(), [
             '<title>HydePHP - Test</title>',
             '<link rel="stylesheet" href="media/app.css">',
-            '<link rel="canonical" href="http://localhost/test.html">',
+            '<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/test.html">',
             '<meta name="twitter:title" content="HydePHP - Test">',
             '<meta property="og:title" content="HydePHP - Test">',
         ]));
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ public function testMetadataTagsInEmptyMarkdownPage()
         $assertions = $this->assertSee('test', array_merge($this->getDefaultTags(), [
             '<title>HydePHP - Test</title>',
             '<link rel="stylesheet" href="media/app.css">',
-            '<link rel="canonical" href="http://localhost/test.html">',
+            '<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/test.html">',
             '<meta name="twitter:title" content="HydePHP - Test">',
             '<meta property="og:title" content="HydePHP - Test">',
         ]));
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ public function testMetadataTagsInEmptyDocumentationPage()
         $assertions = $this->assertSee('docs/test', array_merge($this->getDefaultTags(), [
             '<title>HydePHP - Test</title>',
             '<link rel="stylesheet" href="../media/app.css">',
-            '<link rel="canonical" href="http://localhost/docs/test.html">',
+            '<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/docs/test.html">',
             '<meta name="twitter:title" content="HydePHP - Test">',
             '<meta property="og:title" content="HydePHP - Test">',
         ]));
@@ -140,16 +140,16 @@ public function testMetadataTagsInEmptyMarkdownPost()
 
         $assertions = $this->assertSee('posts/test', array_merge($this->getDefaultTags(), [
             '<title>HydePHP - Test</title>',
-            '<link rel="alternate" href="http://localhost/feed.xml" type="application/rss+xml" title="HydePHP RSS Feed">',
+            '<link rel="alternate" href="https://example.com/feed.xml" type="application/rss+xml" title="HydePHP RSS Feed">',
             '<link rel="stylesheet" href="../media/app.css">',
-            '<link rel="canonical" href="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            '<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/posts/test.html">',
             '<meta name="twitter:title" content="HydePHP - Test">',
-            '<meta name="url" content="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            '<meta name="url" content="https://example.com/posts/test.html">',
             '<meta property="og:title" content="HydePHP - Test">',
-            '<meta property="og:url" content="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            '<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/posts/test.html">',
             '<meta property="og:type" content="article">',
             '<meta itemprop="identifier" content="test">',
-            '<meta itemprop="url" content="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            '<meta itemprop="url" content="https://example.com/posts/test.html">',
         ]));
 
         $this->assertAllTagsWereCovered('posts/test', $assertions);
@@ -177,25 +177,92 @@ public function testMetadataTagsInMarkdownPostWithFlatFrontMatter()
 
         $assertions = $this->assertSee('posts/test', array_merge($this->getDefaultTags(), [
             '<title>HydePHP - My title</title>',
-            '<link rel="alternate" href="http://localhost/feed.xml" type="application/rss+xml" title="HydePHP RSS Feed">',
+            '<link rel="alternate" href="https://example.com/feed.xml" type="application/rss+xml" title="HydePHP RSS Feed">',
             '<link rel="stylesheet" href="../media/app.css">',
-            '<link rel="canonical" href="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            '<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/posts/test.html">',
             '<meta name="twitter:title" content="HydePHP - My title">',
             '<meta name="description" content="My description">',
             '<meta name="author" content="Mr. Hyde">',
             '<meta name="keywords" content="My category">',
-            '<meta name="url" content="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            '<meta name="url" content="https://example.com/posts/test.html">',
             '<meta property="og:title" content="HydePHP - My title">',
-            '<meta property="og:url" content="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            '<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/posts/test.html">',
             '<meta property="og:type" content="article">',
             '<meta property="og:article:published_time" content="2022-01-01T00:00:00+00:00">',
             '<meta property="og:image" content="../media/image.jpg">',
             '<meta itemprop="identifier" content="test">',
-            '<meta itemprop="url" content="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            '<meta itemprop="url" content="https://example.com/posts/test.html">',
             '<meta itemprop="url" content="../media/image.jpg">',
             '<meta itemprop="contentUrl" content="../media/image.jpg">',
         ]));
 
         $this->assertAllTagsWereCovered('posts/test', $assertions);
     }
+
+    public function testCanonicalUrlTagsAreNotAddedWhenCanonicalUrlIsNotSet()
+    {
+        config(['hyde.url' => 'http://localhost']);
+
+        $this->file('_posts/test.md', <<<'MARKDOWN'
+            ---
+            title: "My title"
+            description: "My description"
+            category: "My category"
+            date: "2022-01-01"
+            author: "Mr. Hyde"
+            image: image.jpg
+            ---
+
+            ## Hello World
+
+            Lorem Ipsum Dolor Amet.
+            MARKDOWN
+        );
+        $this->build('_posts/test.md');
+
+        $assertions = $this->assertSee('posts/test', [
+            '<meta charset="utf-8">',
+            '<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">',
+            '<meta id="meta-color-scheme" name="color-scheme" content="light">',
+            '<meta name="generator" content="HydePHP v'.HydeKernel::VERSION.'">',
+            '<meta property="og:site_name" content="HydePHP">',
+            '<title>HydePHP - My title</title>',
+            '<link rel="stylesheet" href="../media/app.css">',
+            '<meta name="twitter:title" content="HydePHP - My title">',
+            '<meta name="description" content="My description">',
+            '<meta name="author" content="Mr. Hyde">',
+            '<meta name="keywords" content="My category">',
+            '<meta property="og:title" content="HydePHP - My title">',
+            '<meta property="og:type" content="article">',
+            '<meta property="og:article:published_time" content="2022-01-01T00:00:00+00:00">',
+            '<meta property="og:image" content="../media/image.jpg">',
+            '<meta itemprop="identifier" content="test">',
+            '<meta itemprop="url" content="../media/image.jpg">',
+            '<meta itemprop="contentUrl" content="../media/image.jpg">',
+
+            // '<link rel="sitemap" href="http://localhost/sitemap.xml" type="application/xml" title="Sitemap">',
+            // '<link rel="alternate" href="http://localhost/feed.xml" type="application/rss+xml" title="HydePHP RSS Feed">',
+            // '<link rel="canonical" href="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            // '<meta name="url" content="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            // '<meta property="og:url" content="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+            // '<meta itemprop="url" content="http://localhost/posts/test.html">',
+        ]);
+
+        $this->assertAllTagsWereCovered('posts/test', $assertions);
+
+        $dontSee = [
+            '<link rel="sitemap"',
+            '<link rel="alternate"',
+            '<link rel="canonical"',
+            '<meta name="url"',
+            '<meta property="og:url"',
+            '<meta itemprop="url" content="http',
+        ];
+
+        $contents = file_get_contents(Hyde::path('_site/posts/test.html'));
+
+        foreach ($dontSee as $text) {
+            $this->assertStringNotContainsString($text, $contents);
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/packages/framework/tests/Unit/Foundation/HyperlinksUrlPathHelpersTest.php b/packages/framework/tests/Unit/Foundation/HyperlinksUrlPathHelpersTest.php
index be8fafa99c9..b3f1697f563 100644
--- a/packages/framework/tests/Unit/Foundation/HyperlinksUrlPathHelpersTest.php
+++ b/packages/framework/tests/Unit/Foundation/HyperlinksUrlPathHelpersTest.php
@@ -92,6 +92,46 @@ public function testQualifiedUrlThrowsExceptionWhenNoSiteUrlIsSet()
         $this->class->url();
     }
 
+    public function testHelperFallsBackToRelativeLinksWhenNoSiteUrlIsSet()
+    {
+        config(['hyde.url' => '']);
+
+        $this->assertSame('index.html', $this->class->url('index.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('foo.html', $this->class->url('foo.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('foo/bar.html', $this->class->url('foo/bar.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('docs/index.html', $this->class->url('docs/index.html'));
+    }
+
+    public function testHelperFallsBackToPrettyRelativeLinksWhenNoSiteUrlIsSetAndPrettyUrlsAreEnabled()
+    {
+        config(['hyde.url' => '', 'hyde.pretty_urls' => true]);
+
+        $this->assertSame('/', $this->class->url('index.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('foo', $this->class->url('foo.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('docs/', $this->class->url('docs/index.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('foo/bar', $this->class->url('foo/bar.html'));
+    }
+
+    public function testHelperFallsBackToRelativeLinksWhenSiteUrlIsSetToLocalhost()
+    {
+        config(['hyde.url' => 'http://localhost']);
+
+        $this->assertSame('index.html', $this->class->url('index.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('foo.html', $this->class->url('foo.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('foo/bar.html', $this->class->url('foo/bar.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('docs/index.html', $this->class->url('docs/index.html'));
+    }
+
+    public function testHelperFallsBackToPrettyRelativeLinksWhenSiteUrlIsSetToLocalhostAndPrettyUrlsAreEnabled()
+    {
+        config(['hyde.url' => 'http://localhost', 'hyde.pretty_urls' => true]);
+
+        $this->assertSame('/', $this->class->url('index.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('foo', $this->class->url('foo.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('docs/', $this->class->url('docs/index.html'));
+        $this->assertSame('foo/bar', $this->class->url('foo/bar.html'));
+    }
+
     public function testHelperReturnsExpectedStringWhenSiteUrlIsSet()
     {
         config(['hyde.url' => 'https://example.com']);