diff --git a/src/basic/hostname-util.c b/src/basic/hostname-util.c
index 21fae89fd0..95d9c3dd83 100644
--- a/src/basic/hostname-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/hostname-util.c
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ bool hostname_is_valid(const char *s, bool relax) {
         return true;
 }
 
-char* hostname_cleanup(char *s, bool lowercase) {
+char* hostname_cleanup(char *s) {
         char *p, *d;
         bool dot;
 
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ char* hostname_cleanup(char *s, bool lowercase) {
                         *(d++) = '.';
                         dot = true;
                 } else if (hostname_valid_char(*p)) {
-                        *(d++) = lowercase ? tolower(*p) : *p;
+                        *(d++) = *p;
                         dot = false;
                 }
 
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ int read_hostname_config(const char *path, char **hostname) {
                 truncate_nl(l);
                 if (l[0] != '\0' && l[0] != '#') {
                         /* found line with value */
-                        name = hostname_cleanup(l, false);
+                        name = hostname_cleanup(l);
                         name = strdup(name);
                         if (!name)
                                 return -ENOMEM;
diff --git a/src/basic/hostname-util.h b/src/basic/hostname-util.h
index ecae3a267c..6f2b5b66ff 100644
--- a/src/basic/hostname-util.h
+++ b/src/basic/hostname-util.h
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ bool hostname_is_set(void);
 char* gethostname_malloc(void);
 
 bool hostname_is_valid(const char *s, bool relax) _pure_;
-char* hostname_cleanup(char *s, bool lowercase);
+char* hostname_cleanup(char *s);
 
 bool is_localhost(const char *hostname);
 
diff --git a/src/firstboot/firstboot.c b/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
index df98212da8..01a3d38746 100644
--- a/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
+++ b/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ static int prompt_hostname(void) {
                 }
 
                 /* Get rid of the trailing dot that we allow, but don't want to see */
-                arg_hostname = hostname_cleanup(h, false);
+                arg_hostname = hostname_cleanup(h);
                 h = NULL;
                 break;
         }
@@ -786,7 +786,7 @@ static int parse_argv(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                                 return -EINVAL;
                         }
 
-                        hostname_cleanup(optarg, false);
+                        hostname_cleanup(optarg);
                         if (free_and_strdup(&arg_hostname, optarg) < 0)
                                 return log_oom();
 
diff --git a/src/hostname/hostnamectl.c b/src/hostname/hostnamectl.c
index d194e9b629..dcbad99ae9 100644
--- a/src/hostname/hostnamectl.c
+++ b/src/hostname/hostnamectl.c
@@ -273,13 +273,13 @@ static int set_hostname(sd_bus *bus, char **args, unsigned n) {
                 if (arg_static && hostname_is_valid(hostname, true)) {
                         p = "";
                         /* maybe get rid of trailing dot */
-                        hostname = hostname_cleanup(hostname, false);
+                        hostname = hostname_cleanup(hostname);
                 } else {
                         p = h = strdup(hostname);
                         if (!p)
                                 return log_oom();
 
-                        hostname_cleanup(hostname, false);
+                        hostname_cleanup(hostname);
                 }
 
                 r = set_simple_string(bus, "SetPrettyHostname", p);
diff --git a/src/journal-remote/journal-gatewayd.c b/src/journal-remote/journal-gatewayd.c
index 9a09f401e0..1eb07a1681 100644
--- a/src/journal-remote/journal-gatewayd.c
+++ b/src/journal-remote/journal-gatewayd.c
@@ -797,7 +797,7 @@ static int request_handler_machine(
                      "\"cutoff_to_realtime\" : \"%"PRIu64"\" }\n",
                      SD_ID128_FORMAT_VAL(mid),
                      SD_ID128_FORMAT_VAL(bid),
-                     hostname_cleanup(hostname, false),
+                     hostname_cleanup(hostname),
                      os_name ? os_name : "Linux",
                      v ? v : "bare",
                      usage,
diff --git a/src/journal/journalctl.c b/src/journal/journalctl.c
index 073cc77711..d2c0a03ccb 100644
--- a/src/journal/journalctl.c
+++ b/src/journal/journalctl.c
@@ -1527,7 +1527,7 @@ static int setup_keys(void) {
                 hn = gethostname_malloc();
 
                 if (hn) {
-                        hostname_cleanup(hn, false);
+                        hostname_cleanup(hn);
                         fprintf(stderr, "\nThe keys have been generated for host %s/" SD_ID128_FORMAT_STR ".\n", hn, SD_ID128_FORMAT_VAL(machine));
                 } else
                         fprintf(stderr, "\nThe keys have been generated for host " SD_ID128_FORMAT_STR ".\n", SD_ID128_FORMAT_VAL(machine));
diff --git a/src/network/networkd-network.c b/src/network/networkd-network.c
index 9a19109b9f..6678b2c77a 100644
--- a/src/network/networkd-network.c
+++ b/src/network/networkd-network.c
@@ -845,7 +845,7 @@ int config_parse_hostname(const char *unit,
                 return 0;
         }
 
-        *hostname = hostname_cleanup(hn, false);
+        *hostname = hostname_cleanup(hn);
 
         return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/nspawn/nspawn.c b/src/nspawn/nspawn.c
index 65b9a5071b..cf77cfd220 100644
--- a/src/nspawn/nspawn.c
+++ b/src/nspawn/nspawn.c
@@ -4005,7 +4005,7 @@ static int determine_names(void) {
                 if (!arg_machine)
                         return log_oom();
 
-                hostname_cleanup(arg_machine, false);
+                hostname_cleanup(arg_machine);
                 if (!machine_name_is_valid(arg_machine)) {
                         log_error("Failed to determine machine name automatically, please use -M.");
                         return -EINVAL;
diff --git a/src/test/test-hostname-util.c b/src/test/test-hostname-util.c
index 2357ab5758..08be3f7bf2 100644
--- a/src/test/test-hostname-util.c
+++ b/src/test/test-hostname-util.c
@@ -65,37 +65,37 @@ static void test_hostname_cleanup(void) {
         char *s;
 
         s = strdupa("foobar");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "foobar"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "foobar"));
         s = strdupa("foobar.com");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "foobar.com"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "foobar.com"));
         s = strdupa("foobar.com.");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "foobar.com"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "foobar.com"));
         s = strdupa("fooBAR");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "fooBAR"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "fooBAR"));
         s = strdupa("fooBAR.com");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "fooBAR.com"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "fooBAR.com"));
         s = strdupa("fooBAR.");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "fooBAR"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "fooBAR"));
         s = strdupa("fooBAR.com.");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "fooBAR.com"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "fooBAR.com"));
         s = strdupa("fööbar");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "fbar"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "fbar"));
         s = strdupa("");
-        assert_se(isempty(hostname_cleanup(s, false)));
+        assert_se(isempty(hostname_cleanup(s)));
         s = strdupa(".");
-        assert_se(isempty(hostname_cleanup(s, false)));
+        assert_se(isempty(hostname_cleanup(s)));
         s = strdupa("..");
-        assert_se(isempty(hostname_cleanup(s, false)));
+        assert_se(isempty(hostname_cleanup(s)));
         s = strdupa("foobar.");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "foobar"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "foobar"));
         s = strdupa(".foobar");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "foobar"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "foobar"));
         s = strdupa("foo..bar");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "foo.bar"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "foo.bar"));
         s = strdupa("foo.bar..");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "foo.bar"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "foo.bar"));
         s = strdupa("xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx");
-        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s, false), "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"));
+        assert_se(streq(hostname_cleanup(s), "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"));
 }
 
 static void test_read_hostname_config(void) {