diff --git a/src/basic/hostname-util.c b/src/basic/hostname-util.c
index 0230821d22..5bfa028b39 100644
--- a/src/basic/hostname-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/hostname-util.c
@@ -143,9 +143,7 @@ char* hostname_cleanup(char *s) {
 
         assert(s);
 
-        strshorten(s, HOST_NAME_MAX);
-
-        for (p = s, d = s, dot = hyphen = true; *p; p++)
+        for (p = s, d = s, dot = hyphen = true; *p && d - s < HOST_NAME_MAX; p++)
                 if (*p == '.') {
                         if (dot || hyphen)
                                 continue;
diff --git a/src/test/test-hostname-util.c b/src/test/test-hostname-util.c
index 596830f5f2..4126a24ceb 100644
--- a/src/test/test-hostname-util.c
+++ b/src/test/test-hostname-util.c
@@ -85,6 +85,8 @@ static void test_hostname_cleanup(void) {
         assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "foo.bar"));
         s = strdupa("xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx");
         assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"));
+        s = strdupa("xxxx........xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx");
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "xxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"));
 }
 
 static void test_read_etc_hostname(void) {