diff --git a/tools/test/bin/onos-patch-vm b/tools/test/bin/onos-patch-vm
index f80f349..52038ce 100755
--- a/tools/test/bin/onos-patch-vm
+++ b/tools/test/bin/onos-patch-vm
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 ssh $remote "
     sudo perl -pi.bak -e \"s/127.0.1.1.*/127.0.1.1       $name/g\" /etc/hosts
-    sudo perl -pi.bak -e \"s/.*/$name/g\" /etc/hostname
+    sudo perl -pi.bak -e \"local \$/ = ''; s/.*/$name/g\" /etc/hostname
     sudo hostname $name
 " 2>/dev/null