diff --git a/etc/inc/system.inc b/etc/inc/system.inc
index f05a3e91c7..73f200093e 100644
--- a/etc/inc/system.inc
+++ b/etc/inc/system.inc
@@ -210,8 +210,13 @@ function system_hostname_configure() {
 	$syscfg = $config['system'];
 
 	/* set hostname */
-	return mwexec("/bin/hostname " .
+	$status = mwexec("/bin/hostname " .
 		escapeshellarg("{$syscfg['hostname']}.{$syscfg['domain']}"));
+
+    /* Setup host GUID ID.  This is used by ZFS. */
+	mwexec("/etc/rc.d/hostid start");
+
+	return $status;
 }
 
 function system_routing_configure() {
diff --git a/etc/rc b/etc/rc
index 9074e761c6..060794bd35 100755
--- a/etc/rc
+++ b/etc/rc
@@ -293,9 +293,6 @@ cap_mkdb /etc/login.conf
 # /usr/local/etc/php.ini and /usr/local/lib/php.ini
 . /etc/rc.php_ini_setup
 
-# Setup the hostid which is required for ZFS
-/etc/rc.d/hostid start
-
 # let the PHP-based configuration subsystem set up the system now
 echo -n "Launching PHP init system..."
 rm -f /cf/conf/backup/backup.cache