diff --git a/neutron/api/v2/attributes.py b/neutron/api/v2/attributes.py
index 8eb2c3a587d..740adc215ee 100644
--- a/neutron/api/v2/attributes.py
+++ b/neutron/api/v2/attributes.py
@@ -237,27 +237,38 @@ def _validate_fixed_ips(data, valid_values=None):
                 return msg
 
 
+def _validate_ip_or_hostname(host):
+    ip_err = _validate_ip_address(host)
+    if not ip_err:
+        return
+    name_err = _validate_hostname(host)
+    if not name_err:
+        return
+    msg = _("%(host)s is not a valid IP or hostname. Details: "
+            "%(ip_err)s, %(name_err)s") % {'ip_err': ip_err, 'host': host,
+                                           'name_err': name_err}
+    return msg
+
+
 def _validate_nameservers(data, valid_values=None):
     if not hasattr(data, '__iter__'):
         msg = _("Invalid data format for nameserver: '%s'") % data
         LOG.debug(msg)
         return msg
 
-    ips = []
-    for ip in data:
-        msg = _validate_ip_address(ip)
+    hosts = []
+    for host in data:
+        # This may be an IP or a hostname
+        msg = _validate_ip_or_hostname(host)
         if msg:
-            # This may be a hostname
-            msg = _validate_regex(ip, HOSTNAME_PATTERN)
-            if msg:
-                msg = _("'%s' is not a valid nameserver") % ip
-                LOG.debug(msg)
-                return msg
-        if ip in ips:
-            msg = _("Duplicate nameserver '%s'") % ip
+            msg = _("'%(host)s' is not a valid nameserver. %(msg)s") % {
+                'host': host, 'msg': msg}
+            return msg
+        if host in hosts:
+            msg = _("Duplicate nameserver '%s'") % host
             LOG.debug(msg)
             return msg
-        ips.append(ip)
+        hosts.append(host)
 
 
 def _validate_hostroutes(data, valid_values=None):
@@ -334,6 +345,41 @@ def _validate_subnet_or_none(data, valid_values=None):
     return _validate_subnet(data, valid_values)
 
 
+def _validate_hostname(data):
+    # NOTE: An individual name regex instead of an entire FQDN was used
+    # because its easier to make correct. Feel free to replace with a
+    # full regex solution. The logic should validate that the hostname
+    # matches RFC 1123 (section 2.1) and RFC 952.
+    hostname_pattern = "[a-zA-Z0-9-]{1,63}$"
+    try:
+        # Trailing periods are allowed to indicate that a name is fully
+        # qualified per RFC 1034 (page 7).
+        trimmed = data if data[-1] != '.' else data[:-1]
+        if len(trimmed) > 255:
+            raise TypeError(
+                _("'%s' exceeds the 255 character hostname limit") % trimmed)
+        names = trimmed.split('.')
+        for name in names:
+            if not name:
+                raise TypeError(_("Encountered an empty component."))
+            if name[-1] == '-' or name[0] == '-':
+                raise TypeError(
+                    _("Name '%s' must not start or end with a hyphen.") % name)
+            if not re.match(hostname_pattern, name):
+                raise TypeError(
+                    _("Name '%s' must be 1-63 characters long, each of "
+                      "which can only be alphanumeric or a hyphen.") % name)
+        # RFC 1123 hints that a TLD can't be all numeric. last is a TLD if
+        # it's an FQDN.
+        if len(names) > 1 and re.match("^[0-9]+$", names[-1]):
+            raise TypeError(_("TLD '%s' must not be all numeric") % names[-1])
+    except TypeError as e:
+        msg = _("'%(data)s' is not a valid hostname. Reason: %(reason)s") % {
+            'data': data, 'reason': e.message}
+        LOG.debug(msg)
+        return msg
+
+
 def _validate_regex(data, valid_values=None):
     try:
         if re.match(valid_values, data):
@@ -537,9 +583,6 @@ def convert_to_list(data):
         return [data]
 
 
-HOSTNAME_PATTERN = ("(?=^.{1,254}$)(^(?:(?!\d+.|-)[a-zA-Z0-9_\-]{1,62}"
-                    "[a-zA-Z0-9]\.?)+(?:[a-zA-Z]{2,})$)")
-
 HEX_ELEM = '[0-9A-Fa-f]'
 UUID_PATTERN = '-'.join([HEX_ELEM + '{8}', HEX_ELEM + '{4}',
                          HEX_ELEM + '{4}', HEX_ELEM + '{4}',
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/test_attributes.py b/neutron/tests/unit/test_attributes.py
index 61ff20d0009..3e62051c951 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/test_attributes.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/test_attributes.py
@@ -281,9 +281,7 @@ class TestAttributes(base.BaseTestCase):
     def test_validate_nameservers(self):
         ns_pools = [['1.1.1.2', '1.1.1.2'],
                     ['www.hostname.com', 'www.hostname.com'],
-                    ['77.hostname.com'],
                     ['1000.0.0.1'],
-                    ['111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111'],  # noqa
                     None]
 
         for ns in ns_pools:
@@ -294,6 +292,8 @@ class TestAttributes(base.BaseTestCase):
                     ['www.hostname.com'],
                     ['www.great.marathons.to.travel'],
                     ['valid'],
+                    ['77.hostname.com'],
+                    ['1' * 59],
                     ['www.internal.hostname.com']]
 
         for ns in ns_pools:
@@ -344,13 +344,19 @@ class TestAttributes(base.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(msg, "'%s' is not a valid IP address" % ip_addr)
 
     def test_hostname_pattern(self):
-        data = '@openstack'
-        msg = attributes._validate_regex(data, attributes.HOSTNAME_PATTERN)
-        self.assertIsNotNone(msg)
+        bad_values = ['@openstack', 'ffff.abcdefg' * 26, 'f' * 80, '-hello',
+                      'goodbye-', 'example..org']
+        for data in bad_values:
+            msg = attributes._validate_hostname(data)
+            self.assertIsNotNone(msg)
 
-        data = 'www.openstack.org'
-        msg = attributes._validate_regex(data, attributes.HOSTNAME_PATTERN)
-        self.assertIsNone(msg)
+        # All numeric hostnames are allowed per RFC 1123 section 2.1
+        good_values = ['www.openstack.org', '1234x', '1234',
+                       'openstack-1', 'v.xyz', '1' * 50, 'a1a',
+                       'x.x1x', 'x.yz', 'example.org.']
+        for data in good_values:
+            msg = attributes._validate_hostname(data)
+            self.assertIsNone(msg)
 
     def test_uuid_pattern(self):
         data = 'garbage'