diff --git a/src/lib/common/nsc.c b/src/lib/common/nsc.c
index 17b274ee..af3b0811 100644
--- a/src/lib/common/nsc.c
+++ b/src/lib/common/nsc.c
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
  *  nsc.c: Empire selection global structures
  *
  *  Known contributors to this file:
- *     Markus Armbruster, 2004-2013
+ *     Markus Armbruster, 2004-2014
  */
 
 /*
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ struct castr cou_ca[] = {
     {"passwd", fldoff(nat_pnam), NSC_STRINGY, 20, NULL,
      EF_BAD, NSC_DEITY | NSC_EXTRA},
     {"ip", fldoff(nat_hostaddr), NSC_STRINGY, 46, NULL, EF_BAD, 0},
-    {"hostname", fldoff(nat_hostname), NSC_STRINGY, 512, NULL, EF_BAD, 0},
+    {"hostname", 0, NSC_STRINGY, 0, NULL, EF_BAD, 0}, /* deprecated */
     {"userid", fldoff(nat_userid), NSC_STRINGY, 32, NULL, EF_BAD, 0},
     {"xcap", fldoff(nat_xcap), NSC_XCOORD, 0, NULL, EF_BAD, 0},
     {"ycap", fldoff(nat_ycap), NSC_YCOORD, 0, NULL, EF_BAD, 0},
diff --git a/tests/smoke/journal.log b/tests/smoke/journal.log
index 259e232d..30e5d96b 100644
--- a/tests/smoke/journal.log
+++ b/tests/smoke/journal.log
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "cname" 14 0 20 -1
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "passwd" 14 1 20 -1
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "ip" 14 1 46 -1
-    Play#0 output Play#0 1 "hostname" 14 1 512 -1
+    Play#0 output Play#0 1 "hostname" 14 1 0 -1
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "userid" 14 1 32 -1
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "xcap" 9 1 0 -1
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "ycap" 10 1 0 -1
@@ -939,7 +939,7 @@
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "cnum" 5 0 0 8
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "flags" 8 8 0 35
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "ip" 14 0 46 -1
-    Play#0 output Play#0 1 "hostname" 14 0 512 -1
+    Play#0 output Play#0 1 "hostname" 14 0 0 -1
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "userid" 14 0 32 -1
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "xcap" 9 0 0 -1
     Play#0 output Play#0 1 "ycap" 10 0 0 -1
@@ -2053,7 +2053,7 @@
     Play#2 output Play#2 1 "cnum" 5 0 0 8
     Play#2 output Play#2 1 "flags" 8 8 0 35
     Play#2 output Play#2 1 "ip" 14 0 46 -1
-    Play#2 output Play#2 1 "hostname" 14 0 512 -1
+    Play#2 output Play#2 1 "hostname" 14 0 0 -1
     Play#2 output Play#2 1 "userid" 14 0 32 -1
     Play#2 output Play#2 1 "xcap" 9 0 0 -1
     Play#2 output Play#2 1 "ycap" 10 0 0 -1