diff --git a/api-ref/source/parameters.yaml b/api-ref/source/parameters.yaml
index 37523fc29e..f129505115 100644
--- a/api-ref/source/parameters.yaml
+++ b/api-ref/source/parameters.yaml
@@ -5872,11 +5872,7 @@ servers_multiple_create_name:
   required: true
   type: string
   description: |
-    A base name for creating unique names during multiple create. A
-    unique string will be appended to the end of this base name for
-    every server created.
-    The server names become ``{name}-1``, ``{name}-2``, ``{name}-3``,
-    etc.
+    A base name for creating unique names during multiple create.
 service:
   description: |
     Object representing a compute service.
diff --git a/nova/compute/api.py b/nova/compute/api.py
index f540eb66a6..c875807b7f 100644
--- a/nova/compute/api.py
+++ b/nova/compute/api.py
@@ -1480,40 +1480,37 @@ class API(base.Base):
                                                 instance=instance)
 
     def _populate_instance_names(self, instance, num_instances, index):
-        """Populate instance display_name and hostname."""
-        display_name = instance.get('display_name')
-        if instance.obj_attr_is_set('hostname'):
-            hostname = instance.get('hostname')
-        else:
-            hostname = None
+        """Populate instance display_name and hostname.
 
+        :param instance: The instance to set the display_name, hostname for
+        :type instance: nova.objects.Instance
+        :param num_instances: Total number of instances being created in this
+            request
+        :param index: The 0-based index of this particular instance
+        """
         # NOTE(mriedem): This is only here for test simplicity since a server
         # name is required in the REST API.
-        if display_name is None:
-            display_name = self._default_display_name(instance.uuid)
-            instance.display_name = display_name
+        if 'display_name' not in instance or instance.display_name is None:
+            instance.display_name = 'Server %s' % instance.uuid
 
-        if hostname is None and num_instances == 1:
-            hostname = display_name
-            default_hostname = self._default_host_name(instance.uuid)
-            instance.hostname = utils.sanitize_hostname(hostname,
-                                                        default_hostname)
+        # if we're booting multiple instances, we need to add an indexing
+        # suffix to both instance.hostname and instance.display_name. This is
+        # not necessary for a single instance.
+        if num_instances == 1:
+            default_hostname = 'Server-%s' % instance.uuid
+            instance.hostname = utils.sanitize_hostname(
+                instance.display_name, default_hostname)
+        elif num_instances > 1 and self.cell_type != 'api':
+            old_display_name = instance.display_name
+            new_display_name = '%s-%d' % (old_display_name, index + 1)
 
-        if num_instances > 1 and self.cell_type != 'api':
-            original_name = instance.display_name
-            new_name = '%s-%d' % (original_name, index + 1)
-            instance.display_name = new_name
-            if not instance.get('hostname', None):
-                if utils.sanitize_hostname(original_name) == "":
-                    instance.hostname = self._default_host_name(instance.uuid)
-                else:
-                    instance.hostname = utils.sanitize_hostname(new_name)
+            if utils.sanitize_hostname(old_display_name) == "":
+                instance.hostname = 'Server-%s' % instance.uuid
+            else:
+                instance.hostname = utils.sanitize_hostname(
+                    new_display_name)
 
-    def _default_display_name(self, instance_uuid):
-        return "Server %s" % instance_uuid
-
-    def _default_host_name(self, instance_uuid):
-        return "Server-%s" % instance_uuid
+            instance.display_name = new_display_name
 
     def _populate_instance_for_create(self, context, instance, image,
                                       index, security_groups, instance_type,
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/cells/test_cells_scheduler.py b/nova/tests/unit/cells/test_cells_scheduler.py
index 6eb9e25191..dcb81e6299 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/cells/test_cells_scheduler.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/cells/test_cells_scheduler.py
@@ -96,7 +96,6 @@ class CellsSchedulerTestCase(test.TestCase):
                           'security_groups': 'removed',
                           'info_cache': 'removed',
                           'name': 'instance-00000001',
-                          'hostname': 'meow',
                           'display_name': 'moo',
                           'image_ref': uuidsentinel.fake_image_ref,
                           'user_id': self.ctxt.user_id,
@@ -137,7 +136,7 @@ class CellsSchedulerTestCase(test.TestCase):
             self.assertEqual('cow', meta['moo'])
             sys_meta = utils.instance_sys_meta(instance)
             self.assertEqual('cat', sys_meta['meow'])
-            self.assertEqual('meow', instance['hostname'])
+            self.assertEqual('moo-%d' % (count + 1), instance['hostname'])
             self.assertEqual('moo-%d' % (count + 1),
                              instance['display_name'])
             self.assertEqual(uuidsentinel.fake_image_ref,