diff --git a/.changeset/nice-mangos-hammer.md b/.changeset/nice-mangos-hammer.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dfd5812b31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/nice-mangos-hammer.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@penumbra-zone/transport-chrome': patch
+---
+
+Allow http://localhost to establish the connection with chrome extensions
diff --git a/packages/transport-chrome/src/session-manager.ts b/packages/transport-chrome/src/session-manager.ts
index 64aa4339ec..be867fe398 100644
--- a/packages/transport-chrome/src/session-manager.ts
+++ b/packages/transport-chrome/src/session-manager.ts
@@ -96,11 +96,15 @@ export class CRSessionManager {
       return;
     }
 
-    // origin restrictions
     const fromThisExtension = sender.id === chrome.runtime.id;
-    // frameId == 0 for top-level documents
-    const fromPageHttps = !sender.frameId && sender.tab?.id && sender.origin.startsWith('https://');
-    if (!(fromThisExtension || fromPageHttps)) {
+    const fromPageHttps =
+      !sender.frameId && !!sender.tab?.id && sender.origin.startsWith('https://');
+    const isLocalhost =
+      sender.origin.startsWith('http://localhost:') || sender.origin === 'http://localhost';
+
+    // Allow connections from the same extension, from https pages, or from http://localhost
+    const validOrigin = isLocalhost || fromPageHttps || fromThisExtension;
+    if (!validOrigin) {
       return;
     }