diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/BUILD b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/BUILD
index 599eecab783..09dd40f3ef5 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/BUILD
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/BUILD
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/printers:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/util/i18n:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/util/initsystem:go_default_library",
+        "//pkg/util/node:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/util/version:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/version:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/ghodss/yaml:go_default_library",
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/join.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/join.go
index 39f921865eb..a4b6a8e787e 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/join.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/join.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import (
 	kubeadmutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/util"
 	kubeconfigutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/kubeconfig"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
+	nodeutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/node"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -135,6 +136,10 @@ type Join struct {
 func NewJoin(cfgPath string, args []string, cfg *kubeadmapi.NodeConfiguration, skipPreFlight bool) (*Join, error) {
 	fmt.Println("[kubeadm] WARNING: kubeadm is in beta, please do not use it for production clusters.")
 
+	if cfg.NodeName == "" {
+		cfg.NodeName = nodeutil.GetHostname("")
+	}
+
 	if cfgPath != "" {
 		b, err := ioutil.ReadFile(cfgPath)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
index b6b0517152a..9d2ddee7e3e 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ func RunJoinNodeChecks(cfg *kubeadmapi.NodeConfiguration) error {
 	checks := []Checker{
 		SystemVerificationCheck{},
 		IsRootCheck{},
-		HostnameCheck{},
+		HostnameCheck{cfg.NodeName},
 		ServiceCheck{Service: "kubelet", CheckIfActive: false},
 		ServiceCheck{Service: "docker", CheckIfActive: true},
 		PortOpenCheck{port: 10250},