diff --git a/src/util/virinitctl.c b/src/util/virinitctl.c
index 1618ffa978..9a3e8a3551 100644
--- a/src/util/virinitctl.c
+++ b/src/util/virinitctl.c
@@ -103,7 +103,11 @@ struct virInitctlRequest {
     } i;
 };
 
-verify(sizeof(struct virInitctlRequest) == 384);
+# ifdef MAXHOSTNAMELEN
+  verify(sizeof(struct virInitctlRequest) == 320 + MAXHOSTNAMELEN);
+# else
+  verify(sizeof(struct virInitctlRequest) == 384);
+#endif
 
 /*
  * Send a message to init to change the runlevel