diff --git a/files/build_templates/docker_image_ctl.j2 b/files/build_templates/docker_image_ctl.j2
index a15546a1e59e..5de892555a1b 100644
--- a/files/build_templates/docker_image_ctl.j2
+++ b/files/build_templates/docker_image_ctl.j2
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # single instance containers are still supported (even though it might not look like it)
-# if no instance number is passed to this script, $DEV will simply be unset, resulting in docker 
+# if no instance number is passed to this script, $DEV will simply be unset, resulting in docker
 # commands being sent to the base container name. E.g. `docker start database$DEV` simply starts
 # the container `database` if no instance number is passed since `$DEV` is not defined
 
@@ -31,32 +31,6 @@ function getMountPoint()
     echo $1 | python -c "import sys, json, os; mnts = [x for x in json.load(sys.stdin)[0]['Mounts'] if x['Destination'] == '/usr/share/sonic/hwsku']; print '' if len(mnts) == 0 else os.path.basename(mnts[0]['Source'])" 2>/dev/null
 }
 
-function updateHostName()
-{
-    HOSTS=/etc/hosts
-    HOSTS_TMP=/etc/hosts.tmp
-
-    EXEC="docker exec -i {{docker_container_name}}$DEV bash -c"
-
-    NEW_HOSTNAME="$1"
-    HOSTNAME=`$EXEC "hostname"`
-    if ! [[ $HOSTNAME =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9.\-]*$ ]]; then
-        HOSTNAME=`hostname`
-    fi
-
-    # copy HOSTS to HOSTS_TMP
-    $EXEC "cp $HOSTS $HOSTS_TMP"
-    # remove entry with hostname
-    $EXEC "sed -i \"/$HOSTNAME$/d\" $HOSTS_TMP"
-    # add entry with new hostname
-    $EXEC "echo -e \"127.0.0.1\t$NEW_HOSTNAME\" >> $HOSTS_TMP"
-
-    echo "Set hostname in {{docker_container_name}}$DEV container"
-    $EXEC "hostname '$NEW_HOSTNAME'"
-    $EXEC "cat $HOSTS_TMP > $HOSTS"
-    $EXEC "rm -f $HOSTS_TMP"
-}
-
 function getBootType()
 {
     # same code snippet in files/scripts/syncd.sh
@@ -165,11 +139,7 @@ start() {
     {%- else %}
     # Obtain our HWSKU as we will mount directories with these names in each docker
     HWSKU=`sonic-cfggen -d -v 'DEVICE_METADATA["localhost"]["hwsku"]'`
-    HOSTNAME=`sonic-cfggen -d -v 'DEVICE_METADATA["localhost"]["hostname"]'`
     {%- endif %}
-    if [ -z "$HOSTNAME" ] || ! [[ $HOSTNAME =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9.\-]*$ ]]; then
-        HOSTNAME=`hostname`
-    fi
 
     DOCKERCHECK=`docker inspect --type container {{docker_container_name}}$DEV 2>/dev/null`
     if [ "$?" -eq "0" ]; then
@@ -187,11 +157,6 @@ start() {
             preStartAction
             docker start {{docker_container_name}}$DEV
             postStartAction
-            CURRENT_HOSTNAME="$(docker exec {{docker_container_name}}$DEV hostname)"
-            if [ x"$HOSTNAME" != x"$CURRENT_HOSTNAME" ]; then
-                updateHostName "$HOSTNAME"
-            fi
-            updateHostName "$HOSTNAME"
             exit $?
         fi
 
@@ -214,7 +179,7 @@ start() {
     if [ -z "$DEV" ]; then
         NET="host"
     else
-        {%- if docker_container_name == "database" %} 
+        {%- if docker_container_name == "database" %}
         NET="bridge"
         {%- else %}
         NET="container:database$DEV"
@@ -226,6 +191,7 @@ start() {
 {%- endif %}
     docker create {{docker_image_run_opt}} \
         --net=$NET \
+        --uts=host \{# W/A: this should be set per-docker, for those dockers which really need host's UTS namespace #}
 {%- if install_debug_image == "y" %}
         -v /src:/src:ro -v /debug:/debug:rw \
 {%- endif %}
@@ -266,7 +232,6 @@ start() {
     preStartAction
     docker start {{docker_container_name}}
     postStartAction
-    updateHostName "$HOSTNAME"
 }
 
 wait() {
@@ -288,13 +253,8 @@ case "$1" in
     start|wait|stop)
         $1
         ;;
-    updateHostName)
-        cmd=$1
-        shift 2
-        $cmd $@
-        ;;
     *)
-        echo "Usage: $0 {start namespace(optional)|wait namespace(optional)|stop namespace(optional)|updateHostName namespace(optional) new_hostname}"
+        echo "Usage: $0 {start namespace(optional)|wait namespace(optional)|stop namespace(optional)}"
         exit 1
         ;;
 esac
diff --git a/files/image_config/hostcfgd/hostcfgd b/files/image_config/hostcfgd/hostcfgd
index e10288c0dd37..4ac3be83d06e 100755
--- a/files/image_config/hostcfgd/hostcfgd
+++ b/files/image_config/hostcfgd/hostcfgd
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
 import os
-import re
 import sys
 import subprocess
 import syslog
@@ -24,13 +23,6 @@ TACPLUS_SERVER_TIMEOUT_DEFAULT = "5"
 TACPLUS_SERVER_AUTH_TYPE_DEFAULT = "pap"
 
 
-def is_valid_hostname(hostname):
-    if hostname[-1] == "." or len(hostname) > 253:
-        return False
-    allowed = re.compile("(?!-)[A-Z\d-]{1,63}(?<!-)$", re.IGNORECASE)
-    return all(allowed.match(x) for x in hostname.split("."))
-
-
 def is_true(val):
     if val == 'True' or val == 'true':
         return True
@@ -238,7 +230,6 @@ class HostConfigDaemon:
         tacacs_server = self.config_db.get_table('TACPLUS_SERVER')
         self.aaacfg = AaaCfg()
         self.aaacfg.load(aaa, tacacs_global, tacacs_server)
-        self.hostname_cache=""
         lpbk_table = self.config_db.get_table('LOOPBACK_INTERFACE')
         self.iptables = Iptables()
         self.iptables.load(lpbk_table)
@@ -260,45 +251,6 @@ class HostConfigDaemon:
             log_data['passkey'] = obfuscate(log_data['passkey'])
         syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_INFO, 'value of {} changed to {}'.format(key, log_data))
 
-    def hostname_handler(self, key, data):
-        if key != "localhost":
-            return
-
-        hostname = data.get("hostname")
-
-        if not hostname:
-            syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_WARNING, "hostname key is missing")
-            return
-        if not is_valid_hostname(hostname):
-            syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_WARNING, "hostname {} is invalid".format(hostname))
-            return
-        if hostname == self.hostname_cache:
-            return
-
-        syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_INFO, "Get all running containers")
-        cmd = 'docker ps --format "{{.Names}}"'
-        try:
-            containers = subprocess.check_output(cmd, shell=True).split("\n")[:-1]
-        except subprocess.CalledProcessError as err:
-            syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, "{} - failed: return code - {}, output:\n{}"
-                          .format(err.cmd, err.returncode, err.output))
-
-        for name in containers:
-            script = '/usr/bin/{}.sh'.format(name)
-            exists = os.path.isfile(script)
-            if not exists:
-                syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, "Can't find control script for {}".format(name))
-                continue
-
-            cmd = "{} updateHostName {}".format(script, hostname)
-            try:
-                subprocess.check_call(cmd, shell=True)
-            except subprocess.CalledProcessError as err:
-                syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, "{} - failed: return code - {}, output:\n{}"
-                              .format(err.cmd, err.returncode, err.output))
-
-        self.hostname_cache = hostname
-
     def lpbk_handler(self, key, data):
         key = ConfigDBConnector.deserialize_key(key)
         #Check if delete operation by fetch existing keys
@@ -309,7 +261,7 @@ class HostConfigDaemon:
             add = False
 
         self.iptables.iptables_handler(key, data, add)
-        
+
     def feature_status_handler(self, key, data):
         status_data = self.config_db.get_table('FEATURE')
         for key in status_data.keys():
@@ -353,7 +305,6 @@ class HostConfigDaemon:
         self.config_db.subscribe('AAA', lambda table, key, data: self.aaa_handler(key, data))
         self.config_db.subscribe('TACPLUS_SERVER', lambda table, key, data: self.tacacs_server_handler(key, data))
         self.config_db.subscribe('TACPLUS', lambda table, key, data: self.tacacs_global_handler(key, data))
-        self.config_db.subscribe('DEVICE_METADATA', lambda table, key, data: self.hostname_handler(key, data))
         self.config_db.subscribe('LOOPBACK_INTERFACE', lambda table, key, data: self.lpbk_handler(key, data))
         self.config_db.subscribe('FEATURE', lambda table, key, data: self.feature_status_handler(key, data))
         self.config_db.listen()