diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 5bd86320b..359b907fb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         meson setup build
         ninja -C build install
+        ninja -C build test
 
   lint:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 2da8f0ec7..85c73b6b3 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -42,3 +42,4 @@ subdir('common')
 subdir('daemon')
 subdir('src')
 subdir('data')
+subdir('test')
diff --git a/src/HostnameValidator.vala b/src/HostnameValidator.vala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..64c9193d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/HostnameValidator.vala
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+// -*- Mode: vala; indent-tabs-mode: nil; tab-width: 4 -*-
+/*-
+ * Copyright 2024 elementary, Inc. (https://elementary.io)
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ * Authored by: Marius Meisenzahl <mariusmeisenzahl@gmail.com>
+ */
+
+namespace Utils {
+    private bool hostname_is_valid_char (char c) {
+        return ((c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') ||
+                (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') ||
+                (c >= '0' && c <= '9') ||
+                c == '-' ||
+                c == '.');
+    }
+
+    // Based on https://github.com/pop-os/hostname-validator/blob/458fa5a1df98cb663f0456dffb542e1a907861c9/src/lib.rs#L29
+    public bool hostname_is_valid (string hostname) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < hostname.char_count (); i++) {
+            char c = hostname[i];
+            if (!hostname_is_valid_char (c)) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        string[] labels = hostname.split (".", -1);
+        foreach (string label in labels) {
+            if (label.char_count () == 0 || label.length > 63 || label[0] == '-' || label[label.length - 1] == '-') {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return !(hostname.char_count () == 0 || hostname.length > 253);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Utils.vala b/src/Utils.vala
index 8c7afcc34..c8b59a0a4 100644
--- a/src/Utils.vala
+++ b/src/Utils.vala
@@ -264,6 +264,13 @@ namespace Utils {
         string hostname = get_ubiquity_compatible_hostname () ?? ("elementary-os" + "-" + get_chassis ());
         hostname += "-" + get_machine_id ().substring (0, 8);
 
+        // If the automatic hostname logic fails in some way, it's possible we may generate an invalid
+        // hostname. We could fix this by trimming traling/leading hyphens or other invalid characters.
+        // But it's probably a bad hostname anyway, so just fallback
+        if (!hostname_is_valid (hostname)) {
+            hostname = "elementary-os";
+        }
+
         return hostname;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index 1ae8f0018..13bf7e43a 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 vala_files = [
     'Application.vala',
+    'HostnameValidator.vala',
     'MainWindow.vala',
     'Utils.vala',
     'Helpers/InstallerDaemon.vala',
diff --git a/test/HostnameValidatorTest.vala b/test/HostnameValidatorTest.vala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7399c553e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/HostnameValidatorTest.vala
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+void add_hostname_validator_tests () {
+    Test.add_func ("/valid", () => {
+        assert (Utils.hostname_is_valid ("VaLiD-HoStNaMe"));
+        assert (Utils.hostname_is_valid ("50-name"));
+        assert (Utils.hostname_is_valid ("235235"));
+        assert (Utils.hostname_is_valid ("example.com"));
+        assert (Utils.hostname_is_valid ("VaLid.HoStNaMe"));
+        assert (Utils.hostname_is_valid ("123.456"));
+    });
+
+    Test.add_func ("/invalid", () => {
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid ("-invalid-name"));
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid ("also-invalid-"));
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid ("asdf@fasd"));
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid ("@asdfl"));
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid ("asd f@"));
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid (".invalid"));
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid ("invalid.name."));
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid ("foo.label-is-way-to-longgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg.org"));
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid ("invalid.-starting.char"));
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid ("invalid.ending-.char"));
+        assert (!Utils.hostname_is_valid ("empty..label"));
+    });
+}
diff --git a/test/Test.vala b/test/Test.vala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..de40a0434
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Test.vala
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+void main (string[] args) {
+    Test.init (ref args);
+    add_hostname_validator_tests ();
+    Test.run ();
+}
diff --git a/test/meson.build b/test/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1ef64043d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+test_dependencies = [
+    glib_dep,
+]
+
+tests = executable(
+    meson.project_name() + '-tests',
+    'HostnameValidatorTest.vala',
+    'Test.vala',
+    meson.project_source_root() + '/src/HostnameValidator.vala',
+    dependencies: test_dependencies
+)
+
+test('Test', tests)