OPINION

Joe Lewis Brown appeals the district court’s order sua sponte dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2000) petition as untimely because it was filed beyond the one-year limitation period of 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d) (2000). Because the district court sua sponte dismissed Brown’s § 2254 petition as untimely without affording him notice or an opportunity to be heard and because it is not indisputably clear from the district court record that the petition is untimely and cannot be salvaged by equitable tolling principles or any of the circumstances enumerated in § 2244(d)(1), we grant a certificate of appealability, vacate the district court’s order, and remand to the district court for additional proceedings consistent with Hill v. Braxton, 277 F.3d 701 (4th Cir. 2002). We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

VACATED AND REMANDED.