diff --git a/components/sock_utils/include/gai_strerror.h b/components/sock_utils/include/gai_strerror.h
index ad872b982..f65601d01 100644
--- a/components/sock_utils/include/gai_strerror.h
+++ b/components/sock_utils/include/gai_strerror.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024 Espressif Systems (Shanghai) CO LTD
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024-2025 Espressif Systems (Shanghai) CO LTD
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
@@ -18,13 +18,14 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 /**
-* @brief Returns a numeric string representing of `getaddrinfo()` error code.
+* @brief Returns a string representing of `getaddrinfo()` error code.
 *
-* @param[in] ecode Error code returned by `getaddrinfo()`.
+* @param[in] errcode Error code returned by `getaddrinfo()`.
 *
-* @return A pointer to a string describing the error.
+* @return A pointer to a string containing the error code, for example "EAI_NONAME"
+* for EAI_NONAME error type.
 */
-const char *gai_strerror(int ecode);
+const char *gai_strerror(int errcode);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/components/sock_utils/src/gai_strerror.c b/components/sock_utils/src/gai_strerror.c
index a4060cf2f..a4ff73767 100644
--- a/components/sock_utils/src/gai_strerror.c
+++ b/components/sock_utils/src/gai_strerror.c
@@ -1,17 +1,36 @@
 /*
- * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024 Espressif Systems (Shanghai) CO LTD
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024-2025 Espressif Systems (Shanghai) CO LTD
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include "gai_strerror.h"
+#include "lwip/netdb.h"
 
-_Thread_local char gai_strerror_string[32];
+#define HANDLE_GAI_ERROR(code) \
+    case code: return #code;
 
-const char *gai_strerror(int ecode)
+const char *gai_strerror(int errcode)
 {
-    if (snprintf(gai_strerror_string, sizeof(gai_strerror_string), "EAI error:%d", ecode) < 0) {
-        return "gai_strerror() failed";
+    switch (errcode) {
+        /* lwip defined DNS codes */
+        HANDLE_GAI_ERROR(EAI_BADFLAGS)
+        HANDLE_GAI_ERROR(EAI_FAIL)
+        HANDLE_GAI_ERROR(EAI_FAMILY)
+        HANDLE_GAI_ERROR(EAI_MEMORY)
+        HANDLE_GAI_ERROR(EAI_NONAME)
+        HANDLE_GAI_ERROR(EAI_SERVICE)
+        /* other error codes optionally defined in platform/newlib or toolchain */
+#ifdef EAI_AGAIN
+        HANDLE_GAI_ERROR(EAI_AGAIN)
+#endif
+#ifdef EAI_SOCKTYPE
+        HANDLE_GAI_ERROR(EAI_SOCKTYPE)
+#endif
+#ifdef EAI_SYSTEM
+        HANDLE_GAI_ERROR(EAI_SYSTEM)
+#endif
+    default:
+        return "Unknown error";
     }
-    return gai_strerror_string;
 }