diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index b13bc36c..1d1763ad 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ AC_CHECK_FUNCS([setuid])
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([chroot])
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([chown])
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([strcasestr])
+AC_CHECK_FUNCS([gethostname])
+AC_CHECK_FUNCS([uname])
 
 dnl Checks for typedefs, structures, and compiler characteristics.
 XIPH_C__FUNC__
diff --git a/src/cfgfile.c b/src/cfgfile.c
index be8b2f7f..a7f0bb92 100644
--- a/src/cfgfile.c
+++ b/src/cfgfile.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include "refbuf.h"
 #include "client.h"
 #include "logging.h" 
+#include "util.h" 
 
 #define CATMODULE "CONFIG"
 #define CONFIG_DEFAULT_LOCATION "Earth"
@@ -450,6 +451,44 @@ static void _set_defaults(ice_config_t *configuration)
     configuration->burst_size = CONFIG_DEFAULT_BURST_SIZE;
 }
 
+static inline void __check_hostname(ice_config_t *configuration) {
+    char *p;
+
+    // ensure we have a non-NULL buffer:
+    if (!configuration->hostname)
+        configuration->hostname = (char *)xmlCharStrdup (CONFIG_DEFAULT_HOSTNAME);
+
+    // convert to lower case:
+    for (p = configuration->hostname; *p; p++)
+        if ( *p >= 'A' && *p <= 'Z' )
+            *p += 'a' - 'A';
+
+    configuration->sane_hostname = 0;
+    switch (util_hostcheck(configuration->hostname)) {
+        case HOSTCHECK_SANE:
+            configuration->sane_hostname = 1;
+        break;
+        case HOSTCHECK_ERROR:
+            ICECAST_LOG_ERROR("Can not check hostname \"%s\".", configuration->hostname);
+        break;
+        case HOSTCHECK_NOT_FQDN:
+            ICECAST_LOG_WARN("Warning, <hostname> seems not to be set to a fully qualified fomain name (FQDN). This may cause problems, e.g. with YP directory listings.");
+        break;
+        case HOSTCHECK_IS_LOCALHOST:
+            ICECAST_LOG_WARN("Warning, <hostname> not configured, using default value \"%s\". This will cause problems, e.g. with YP directory listings.", CONFIG_DEFAULT_HOSTNAME);
+        break;
+        case HOSTCHECK_IS_IPV4:
+            ICECAST_LOG_WARN("Warning, <hostname> seems to be set to an IPv4 address. This may cause problems, e.g. with YP directory listings.");
+        break;
+        case HOSTCHECK_IS_IPV6:
+            ICECAST_LOG_WARN("Warning, <hostname> seems to be set to an IPv6 address. This may cause problems, e.g. with YP directory listings.");
+        break;
+        case HOSTCHECK_BADCHAR:
+            ICECAST_LOG_WARN("Warning, <hostname> configured to unusual characters. This may cause problems, e.g. with YP directory listings.");
+        break;
+    }
+}
+
 static void _parse_root(xmlDocPtr doc, xmlNodePtr node, 
         ice_config_t *configuration)
 {
@@ -566,11 +605,7 @@ static void _parse_root(xmlDocPtr doc, xmlNodePtr node,
    if (!configuration->fileserve)
        ICECAST_LOG_WARN("Warning, serving of static files has been disabled in the config, this will also affect files used by the web interface (stylesheets, images).");
 
-  if (!configuration->hostname || strcmp(configuration->hostname, CONFIG_DEFAULT_HOSTNAME) == 0) {
-      ICECAST_LOG_WARN("Warning, <hostname> not configured, using default value \"%s\". This will cause problems, e.g. with YP directory listings.", CONFIG_DEFAULT_HOSTNAME);
-      if (!configuration->hostname)
-          configuration->hostname = (char *)xmlCharStrdup (CONFIG_DEFAULT_HOSTNAME);
-  }
+  __check_hostname(configuration);
 
   if (!configuration->location || strcmp(configuration->location, CONFIG_DEFAULT_LOCATION) == 0) {
       ICECAST_LOG_WARN("Warning, <location> not configured, using default value \"%s\".", CONFIG_DEFAULT_LOCATION);
diff --git a/src/cfgfile.h b/src/cfgfile.h
index 26366c72..845685aa 100644
--- a/src/cfgfile.h
+++ b/src/cfgfile.h
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ typedef struct ice_config_tag {
     ice_config_dir_t *dir_list;
 
     char *hostname;
+    int sane_hostname;
     int port;
     char *mimetypes_fn;
 
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index b86e2294..3c016190 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@
 #include <curl/curl.h>
 #endif
 
+#ifdef HAVE_UNAME
+#include <sys/utsname.h>
+#endif
+
 #include "thread/thread.h"
 #include "avl/avl.h"
 #include "net/sock.h"
@@ -54,6 +58,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #include "cfgfile.h"
+#include "util.h"
 #include "sighandler.h"
 
 #include "global.h"
@@ -425,6 +430,46 @@ static void _ch_root_uid_setup(void)
 }
 #endif
 
+static inline void __log_system_name(void) {
+    char hostname[80] = "(unknown)";
+    char system[128] = "(unknown)";
+    int have_hostname = 0;
+#ifdef HAVE_UNAME
+    struct utsname utsname;
+#endif
+    ice_config_t *config;
+
+#ifdef HAVE_GETHOSTNAME
+    if (gethostname(hostname, sizeof(hostname)) != 0) {
+        strncpy(hostname, "(unknown)", sizeof(hostname));
+    } else {
+        have_hostname = 1;
+    }
+#endif
+#ifdef HAVE_UNAME
+    if(uname(&utsname) == 0) {
+        snprintf(system, sizeof(system), "%s %s, %s, %s, %s",
+                 utsname.sysname, utsname.release, utsname.nodename, utsname.version, utsname.machine);
+        if (!have_hostname) {
+            strncpy(hostname, utsname.nodename, sizeof(hostname));
+            have_hostname = 1;
+        }
+    }
+#elif defined(WIN32)
+    strncpy(system, "MS Windows", sizeof(system));
+#endif
+
+   ICECAST_LOG_INFO("Running on %s; OS: %s; Address Bits: %i", hostname, system, sizeof(void*)*8);
+
+   if (have_hostname) {
+       config = config_get_config();
+       if (!config->sane_hostname && util_hostcheck(hostname) == HOSTCHECK_SANE) {
+           ICECAST_LOG_WARN("Hostname is not set to anything useful in <hostname>, Consider setting it to the system's name \"%s\".", hostname);
+       }
+       config_release_config();
+   }
+}
+
 #ifdef WIN32_SERVICE
 int mainService(int argc, char **argv)
 #else
@@ -521,6 +566,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     ICECAST_LOG_INFO("%s server started", ICECAST_VERSION_STRING);
+    __log_system_name();
 
     /* REM 3D Graphics */
 
diff --git a/src/util.c b/src/util.c
index 4e58e9dd..55e08981 100644
--- a/src/util.c
+++ b/src/util.c
@@ -487,6 +487,47 @@ char *util_base64_decode(const char *data)
     return result;
 }
 
+util_hostcheck_type util_hostcheck(const char *hostname) {
+    const char * p;
+    size_t colon_count;
+
+    if (!hostname)
+        return HOSTCHECK_ERROR;
+
+    if (strcmp(hostname, "localhost") == 0 ||
+        strcmp(hostname, "localhost.localdomain") == 0 ||
+        strcmp(hostname, "localhost.localnet") == 0)
+        return HOSTCHECK_IS_LOCALHOST;
+
+    for (p = hostname; *p; p++)
+        if (!( (*p >= '0' && *p <= '9') || *p == '.'))
+            break;
+    if (!*p)
+        return HOSTCHECK_IS_IPV4;
+
+    for (p = hostname, colon_count = 0; *p; p++) {
+        if (*p == ':') {
+            colon_count++;
+            continue;
+        }
+        if (!((*p >= 'a' && *p <= 'f') || (*p >= '0' && *p <= '9') || *p == ':'))
+            break;
+    }
+    if (!*p && colon_count)
+        return HOSTCHECK_IS_IPV6;
+
+    for (p = hostname; *p; p++)
+        if (!( (*p >= 'a' && *p <= 'z') || (*p >= '0' && *p <= '9') || *p == '.' || *p == '-' ))
+            return HOSTCHECK_BADCHAR;
+
+    for (p = hostname, colon_count = 0; *p && *p != '.'; p++);
+    if (!*p)
+        return HOSTCHECK_NOT_FQDN;
+
+    return HOSTCHECK_SANE;
+}
+
+
 /* TODO, FIXME: handle memory allocation errors better. */
 static inline void   _build_headers_loop(char **ret, size_t *len, ice_config_http_header_t *header, int status) {
     size_t headerlen;
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
index c7b09f51..f2d14dc5 100644
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -33,6 +33,18 @@ char *util_base64_encode(const char *data);
 char *util_base64_decode(const char *input);
 char *util_bin_to_hex(unsigned char *data, int len);
 
+typedef enum _util_hostcheck_tag {
+ HOSTCHECK_ERROR = -1,
+ HOSTCHECK_SANE  = 0,
+ HOSTCHECK_NOT_FQDN,
+ HOSTCHECK_IS_LOCALHOST,
+ HOSTCHECK_IS_IPV4,
+ HOSTCHECK_IS_IPV6,
+ HOSTCHECK_BADCHAR
+} util_hostcheck_type;
+
+util_hostcheck_type util_hostcheck(const char *hostname);
+
 char *util_url_unescape(const char *src);
 char *util_url_escape(const char *src);