diff --git a/cmd-op.go b/cmd-op.go
index fecca56..ce14f11 100644
--- a/cmd-op.go
+++ b/cmd-op.go
@@ -160,17 +160,25 @@ func unban(conn *irc.Conn, nick *irc.Nick, args, target string) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	ch := conn.GetChannel(channel)
+	if ch == nil {
+		say(conn, target , "%s: Unable to get channel information about %s", nick.Nick, channel)
+		return
+	}
 	bans := strings.TrimSpace(args)
 	split := strings.Fields(bans)
 	for i, ban := range(split) {
 		if strings.Index(ban, "@") != -1 {
+			// it's already a host, do nothing
 			continue
 		}
-		n := conn.GetNick(ban)
-		if n == nil {
-			continue
+		if b, ok := ch.Bans[ban]; ok {
+			// we've seen this nick banned before
+			split[i] = b
+		} else if n := conn.GetNick(ban); n != nil {
+			// the user is in one of our channels, here's our best guess
+			split[i] = "*!*@" + n.Host
 		}
-		split[i] = "*!*@" + n.Host
 	}
 	bans = strings.Join(split, " ")
 	modestring := "-" + strings.Repeat("b", len(bans)) + " " + bans
diff --git a/irc/handlers.go b/irc/handlers.go
index cc84c9a..5166de1 100644
--- a/irc/handlers.go
+++ b/irc/handlers.go
@@ -288,6 +288,22 @@ func (conn *Conn) setupEvents() {
 					} else {
 						conn.error("irc.MODE(): buh? not enough arguments to process MODE %s %s%s", ch.Name, modestr, m)
 					}
+				case 'b':
+					if len(modeargs) != 0 {
+						// we only care about host bans
+						if modeop && strings.HasPrefix(modeargs[0], "*!*@") {
+							for n, _ := range ch.Nicks {
+								if modeargs[0][4:] == n.Host {
+									ch.AddBan(n.Nick, modeargs[0])
+								}
+							}
+						} else if !modeop {
+							ch.DeleteBan(modeargs[0])
+						}
+						modeargs = modeargs[1:len(modeargs)]
+					} else {
+						conn.error("irc.MODE(): buh? not enough arguments to process MODE %s %s%s", ch.Name, modestr, m)
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		} else if n := conn.GetNick(line.Args[0]); n != nil {
diff --git a/irc/nickchan.go b/irc/nickchan.go
index a050373..27fdca2 100644
--- a/irc/nickchan.go
+++ b/irc/nickchan.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ type Channel struct {
 	Name, Topic string
 	Modes       *ChanMode
 	Nicks       map[*Nick]*ChanPrivs
+	Bans        map[string]string
 	conn        *Conn
 }
 
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ func (conn *Conn) GetChannel(c string) *Channel {
 func (ch *Channel) initialise() {
 	ch.Modes = new(ChanMode)
 	ch.Nicks = make(map[*Nick]*ChanPrivs)
+	ch.Bans = make(map[string]string)
 }
 
 // Associates an *irc.Nick with an *irc.Channel using a shared *irc.ChanPrivs
@@ -132,6 +134,18 @@ func (ch *Channel) DelNick(n *Nick) {
 	// consistency, and this would mean spewing an error message every delete
 }
 
+func (ch *Channel) AddBan(nick, ban string) {
+	ch.Bans[nick] = ban
+}
+
+func (ch *Channel) DeleteBan(ban string) {
+	for n, b := range ch.Bans {
+		if b == ban {
+			ch.Bans[n] = "", false // see go issue 1249
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // Stops the channel from being tracked by state tracking handlers. Also calls
 // n.DelChannel(ch) for all nicks that are associated with the channel.
 func (ch *Channel) Delete() {