diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/12113-unixy-delegated-host.yml b/changelogs/fragments/12113-unixy-delegated-host.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dae29b6b2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/12113-unixy-delegated-host.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - "unixy callback - handle missing ``ansible_host`` in delegated vars when a task is delegated to a host without it set, such as ``localhost`` (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/issues/12112, https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/12113)."
diff --git a/plugins/callback/unixy.py b/plugins/callback/unixy.py
index f264eb3e0a..2c3f9a9392 100644
--- a/plugins/callback/unixy.py
+++ b/plugins/callback/unixy.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class CallbackModule(CallbackModule_default):
             return task_result
 
         if self.delegated_vars:
-            task_delegate_host = self.delegated_vars["ansible_host"]
+            task_delegate_host = self.delegated_vars.get("ansible_host") or result._task.delegate_to or ""
             task_result = f"{task_host} -> {task_delegate_host} {msg}"
 
         if result._result.get("msg") and result._result.get("msg") != "All items completed":