diff -u -r ../busybox-1.26.2/networking/hostname.c ./networking/hostname.c
--- ../busybox-1.26.2/networking/hostname.c	2016-12-10 18:46:36.000000000 +0100
+++ ./networking/hostname.c	2017-07-07 00:19:07.993535998 +0200
@@ -58,11 +58,18 @@
 		}
 		if (ENABLE_FEATURE_CLEAN_UP)
 			config_close(parser);
+#ifdef __ANDROID__
+	} else {
+		/* sethostname() is not available on Android pre android-23 and not allowed anyway. */
+		bb_error_msg_and_die("can't set hostname: Operation not permitted");
+	}
+#else
 	} else if (sethostname(s, strlen(s))) {
 //		if (errno == EPERM)
 //			bb_error_msg_and_die(bb_msg_perm_denied_are_you_root);
 		bb_perror_msg_and_die("sethostname");
 	}
+#endif
 }
 
 /* Manpage circa 2009: