diff --git a/SoObjects/SOGo/GNUmakefile.preamble b/SoObjects/SOGo/GNUmakefile.preamble
index d35e9d3af..ee71f35ab 100644
--- a/SoObjects/SOGo/GNUmakefile.preamble
+++ b/SoObjects/SOGo/GNUmakefile.preamble
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ SOGo_INCLUDE_DIRS += -I.. -I../../UI \
 	-DSOGO_MINOR_VERSION="@\"$(MINOR_VERSION)\"" \
 	-DSOGO_SUBMINOR_VERSION="@\"$(SUBMINOR_VERSION)\""
 
-HOSTNAME = $(shell hostname -f)
+HOSTNAME ?= $(shell hostname -f)
 BUILD_DATE = $(shell echo $$USER@$(HOSTNAME); date +"%Y%m%d%H%M")
 
 ADDITIONAL_CPPFLAGS += \
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 73ecdbb4e..d2b2317ee 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -37,6 +37,15 @@ else
   MAKE=gmake
 fi
 
+# hostname(1) on some systems may not know the -f parameter
+hostname -f 2>/dev/null >/dev/null
+if [ $? -eq 0 ];then
+  HOSTNAME=`hostname -f`
+else
+  HOSTNAME=`hostname`
+fi
+
+
 NGSTREAMS_DIR="./sope-core/NGStreams"
 LINK_SYSLIBDIRS="-L/usr/local/pgsql/lib -L/usr/local/lib -L/usr/lib"
 
@@ -251,6 +260,7 @@ genConfigMake() {
     cfgwrite "CGS_LIBDIR_NAME:=lib"
   fi
 
+  cfgwrite "HOSTNAME=${HOSTNAME}"
   cfgwrite "SOGO_SYSLIBDIR=\${GNUSTEP_LIBRARIES}"
   cfgwrite "SOGO_LIBDIR=\${GNUSTEP_LIBRARY}/SOGo"
   cfgwrite "SOGO_TEMPLATESDIR=\${SOGO_LIBDIR}/Templates"