diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ServerName.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ServerName.java
index ad14f679e25..059dcb87708 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ServerName.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ServerName.java
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ public class ServerName implements Comparable<ServerName>, Serializable {
    */
   static String getServerName(String hostName, int port, long startcode) {
     final StringBuilder name = new StringBuilder(hostName.length() + 1 + 5 + 1 + 13);
-    name.append(hostName);
+    name.append(hostName.toLowerCase());
     name.append(SERVERNAME_SEPARATOR);
     name.append(port);
     name.append(SERVERNAME_SEPARATOR);
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ public class ServerName implements Comparable<ServerName>, Serializable {
       final ServerName right) {
     if (left == null) return false;
     if (right == null) return false;
-    return left.getHostname().equals(right.getHostname()) &&
+    return left.getHostname().compareToIgnoreCase(right.getHostname()) == 0 &&
       left.getPort() == right.getPort();
   }
 
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestServerName.java b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestServerName.java
index e5125c61442..cde26e65b92 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestServerName.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestServerName.java
@@ -108,5 +108,16 @@ public class TestServerName {
       ServerName.getServerStartcodeFromServerName(sn.toString()));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testHostNameCaseSensitivity() {
+    ServerName lower = ServerName.valueOf("www.example.org", 1234, 5678);
+    ServerName upper = ServerName.valueOf("www.EXAMPLE.org", 1234, 5678);
+    assertEquals(0, lower.compareTo(upper));
+    assertEquals(0, upper.compareTo(lower));
+    assertEquals(lower.hashCode(), upper.hashCode());
+    assertTrue(lower.equals(upper));
+    assertTrue(upper.equals(lower));
+    assertTrue(ServerName.isSameHostnameAndPort(lower, upper));
+  }
 }