diff --git a/ecal/core/include/ecal/config/registration.h b/ecal/core/include/ecal/config/registration.h
index 2cd3466bd4..79f9798a06 100644
--- a/ecal/core/include/ecal/config/registration.h
+++ b/ecal/core/include/ecal/config/registration.h
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include "ecal/ecal_os.h"
-#include "ecal/ecal_process.h"
 
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <string>
@@ -64,14 +63,14 @@ namespace eCAL
 
     struct Configuration
     {
-      unsigned int         registration_timeout { 10000U };                           //!< Timeout for topic registration in ms (internal) (Default: 10000)
-      unsigned int         registration_refresh { 1000U };                            //!< Topic registration refresh cylce (has to be smaller then registration timeout!) (Default: 1000)                                   
+      unsigned int         registration_timeout { 10000U }; //!< Timeout for topic registration in ms (internal) (Default: 10000)
+      unsigned int         registration_refresh { 1000U };  //!< Topic registration refresh cylce (has to be smaller then registration timeout!) (Default: 1000)                                   
 
-      bool                 network_enabled      { false };                            /*!< true  = all eCAL components communicate over network boundaries
-                                                                                           false = local host only communication (Default: false) */
-      bool                 loopback             { true };                             //!< enable to receive udp messages on the same local machine (Default: true)
-      std::string          host_group_name      { eCAL::Process::GetHostName() };     /*!< Common host group name that enables interprocess mechanisms across 
-                                                                                           (virtual) host borders (e.g, Docker); by default equivalent to local host name (Default: CurrentHostName) */
+      bool                 network_enabled      { false };  /*!< true  = all eCAL components communicate over network boundaries
+                                                                 false = local host only communication (Default: false) */
+      bool                 loopback             { true };   //!< enable to receive udp messages on the same local machine (Default: true)
+      std::string          host_group_name      { "" };     /*!< Common host group name that enables interprocess mechanisms across 
+                                                                 (virtual) host borders (e.g, Docker); by default equivalent to local host name (Default: "") */
       Layer::Configuration layer;
     };
   }
diff --git a/ecal/core/src/builder/registration_attribute_builder.cpp b/ecal/core/src/builder/registration_attribute_builder.cpp
index 2516afb2d7..a77022a96a 100644
--- a/ecal/core/src/builder/registration_attribute_builder.cpp
+++ b/ecal/core/src/builder/registration_attribute_builder.cpp
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 */
 
 #include "registration_attribute_builder.h"
+#include "ecal/ecal_process.h"
 
 namespace eCAL
 {
@@ -29,7 +30,17 @@ namespace eCAL
     attr.refresh           = reg_config_.registration_refresh;
     attr.network_enabled   = reg_config_.network_enabled;
     attr.loopback          = reg_config_.loopback;
-    attr.host_group_name   = reg_config_.host_group_name;
+    
+    // TODO: Check the usage further down of host_group_name -> logic currenty missleading
+    if (reg_config_.host_group_name.empty())
+    {
+      attr.host_group_name = eCAL::Process::GetHostName();
+    }
+    else
+    {
+      attr.host_group_name = reg_config_.host_group_name;
+    }
+
     attr.process_id        = process_id_;
 
     attr.shm_enabled       = reg_config_.layer.shm.enable;