diff --git a/container.go b/container.go
index 5122fd7fcf..d4e8c65f0e 100644
--- a/container.go
+++ b/container.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
+	"net"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path"
@@ -19,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
-	"net"
 )
 
 type Container struct {
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ type Container struct {
 
 	SysInitPath    string
 	ResolvConfPath string
+	HostnamePath   string
+	HostsPath      string
 
 	cmd       *exec.Cmd
 	stdout    *utils.WriteBroadcaster
@@ -60,6 +62,7 @@ type Container struct {
 
 type Config struct {
 	Hostname        string
+	Domainname      string
 	User            string
 	Memory          int64 // Memory limit (in bytes)
 	MemorySwap      int64 // Total memory usage (memory + swap); set `-1' to disable swap
@@ -202,8 +205,17 @@ func ParseRun(args []string, capabilities *Capabilities) (*Config, *HostConfig,
 		return nil, nil, cmd, err
 	}
 
+	hostname := *flHostname
+	domainname := ""
+
+	parts := strings.SplitN(hostname, ".", 2)
+	if len(parts) > 1 {
+		hostname = parts[0]
+		domainname = parts[1]
+	}
 	config := &Config{
-		Hostname:        *flHostname,
+		Hostname:        hostname,
+		Domainname:      domainname,
 		PortSpecs:       flPorts,
 		User:            *flUser,
 		Tty:             *flTty,
@@ -823,10 +835,10 @@ func (container *Container) allocateNetwork() error {
 			iface = &NetworkInterface{disabled: true}
 		} else {
 			iface = &NetworkInterface{
-				IPNet: net.IPNet{IP: net.ParseIP(container.NetworkSettings.IPAddress), Mask: manager.bridgeNetwork.Mask},
+				IPNet:   net.IPNet{IP: net.ParseIP(container.NetworkSettings.IPAddress), Mask: manager.bridgeNetwork.Mask},
 				Gateway: manager.bridgeNetwork.IP,
 				manager: manager,
-				}
+			}
 			ipNum := ipToInt(iface.IPNet.IP)
 			manager.ipAllocator.inUse[ipNum] = struct{}{}
 		}
@@ -837,10 +849,10 @@ func (container *Container) allocateNetwork() error {
 		portSpecs = container.Config.PortSpecs
 	} else {
 		for backend, frontend := range container.NetworkSettings.PortMapping["Tcp"] {
-			portSpecs = append(portSpecs, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s/tcp",frontend, backend))
+			portSpecs = append(portSpecs, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s/tcp", frontend, backend))
 		}
 		for backend, frontend := range container.NetworkSettings.PortMapping["Udp"] {
-			portSpecs = append(portSpecs, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s/udp",frontend, backend))
+			portSpecs = append(portSpecs, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s/udp", frontend, backend))
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/graph.go b/graph.go
index c54725fdb4..ffbb3f6a6a 100644
--- a/graph.go
+++ b/graph.go
@@ -202,6 +202,8 @@ func (graph *Graph) getDockerInitLayer() (string, error) {
 		"/sys":             "dir",
 		"/.dockerinit":     "file",
 		"/etc/resolv.conf": "file",
+		"/etc/hosts":       "file",
+		"/etc/hostname":    "file",
 		// "var/run": "dir",
 		// "var/lock": "dir",
 	} {
diff --git a/lxc_template.go b/lxc_template.go
index d357c02b43..7013581232 100644
--- a/lxc_template.go
+++ b/lxc_template.go
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ lxc.network.ipv4 = {{.NetworkSettings.IPAddress}}/{{.NetworkSettings.IPPrefixLen
 {{$ROOTFS := .RootfsPath}}
 lxc.rootfs = {{$ROOTFS}}
 
+# enable domain name support
+lxc.mount.entry = {{.HostnamePath}} {{$ROOTFS}}/etc/hostname none bind,ro 0 0
+lxc.mount.entry = {{.HostsPath}} {{$ROOTFS}}/etc/hosts none bind,ro 0 0
+
 # use a dedicated pts for the container (and limit the number of pseudo terminal
 # available)
 lxc.pts = 1024
diff --git a/runtime.go b/runtime.go
index 1ee7aa26f9..aff1773fdf 100644
--- a/runtime.go
+++ b/runtime.go
@@ -366,7 +366,33 @@ func (runtime *Runtime) Create(config *Config) (*Container, error) {
 	if err := container.ToDisk(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	// Step 3: register the container
+
+	// Step 3: if hostname, build hostname and hosts files
+	container.HostnamePath = path.Join(container.root, "hostname")
+	ioutil.WriteFile(container.HostnamePath, []byte(container.Config.Hostname+"\n"), 0644)
+
+	hostsContent := []byte(`
+127.0.0.1	localhost
+::1		localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
+fe00::0		ip6-localnet
+ff00::0		ip6-mcastprefix
+ff02::1		ip6-allnodes
+ff02::2		ip6-allrouters
+`)
+
+	container.HostsPath = path.Join(container.root, "hosts")
+
+	if container.Config.Domainname != "" {
+		hostsContent = append([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("::1\t\t%s.%s %s\n", container.Config.Hostname, container.Config.Domainname, container.Config.Hostname)), hostsContent...)
+		hostsContent = append([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("127.0.0.1\t%s.%s %s\n", container.Config.Hostname, container.Config.Domainname, container.Config.Hostname)), hostsContent...)
+	} else {
+		hostsContent = append([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("::1\t\t%s\n", container.Config.Hostname)), hostsContent...)
+		hostsContent = append([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("127.0.0.1\t%s\n", container.Config.Hostname)), hostsContent...)
+	}
+
+	ioutil.WriteFile(container.HostsPath, hostsContent, 0644)
+
+	// Step 4: register the container
 	if err := runtime.Register(container); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -489,4 +515,3 @@ func (history *History) Add(container *Container) {
 	*history = append(*history, container)
 	sort.Sort(history)
 }
-