diff --git a/checks/lib/container-test.nix b/checks/lib/container-test.nix
index fc4574dde..31ba285a5 100644
--- a/checks/lib/container-test.nix
+++ b/checks/lib/container-test.nix
@@ -9,29 +9,38 @@ in
   {
     hostPkgs = pkgs;
     # speed-up evaluation
-    defaults = {
-      imports = [
-        ./minify.nix
-      ];
-      documentation.enable = lib.mkDefault false;
-      boot.isContainer = true;
+    defaults =
+      { config, options, ... }:
+      {
+        imports = [
+          ./minify.nix
+        ];
+        config = lib.mkMerge [
+          (lib.optionalAttrs (options ? clan) {
+            clan.core.settings.machine.name = config.networking.hostName;
+          })
+          {
+            documentation.enable = lib.mkDefault false;
+            boot.isContainer = true;
 
-      # needed since nixpkgs 7fb2f407c01b017737eafc26b065d7f56434a992 removed the getty unit by default
-      console.enable = true;
+            # needed since nixpkgs 7fb2f407c01b017737eafc26b065d7f56434a992 removed the getty unit by default
+            console.enable = true;
 
-      # undo qemu stuff
-      system.build.initialRamdisk = "";
-      virtualisation.sharedDirectories = lib.mkForce { };
-      networking.useDHCP = false;
+            # undo qemu stuff
+            system.build.initialRamdisk = "";
+            virtualisation.sharedDirectories = lib.mkForce { };
+            networking.useDHCP = false;
 
-      # we have not private networking so far
-      networking.interfaces = lib.mkForce { };
-      #networking.primaryIPAddress = lib.mkForce null;
-      systemd.services.backdoor.enable = false;
+            # we have not private networking so far
+            networking.interfaces = lib.mkForce { };
+            #networking.primaryIPAddress = lib.mkForce null;
+            systemd.services.backdoor.enable = false;
 
-      # we don't have permission to set cpu scheduler in our container
-      systemd.services.nix-daemon.serviceConfig.CPUSchedulingPolicy = lib.mkForce "";
-    };
+            # we don't have permission to set cpu scheduler in our container
+            systemd.services.nix-daemon.serviceConfig.CPUSchedulingPolicy = lib.mkForce "";
+          }
+        ];
+      };
     # to accept external dependencies such as disko
     node.specialArgs.self = self;
     _module.args = { inherit self; };
diff --git a/checks/lib/test-base.nix b/checks/lib/test-base.nix
index 594615e68..7c37ee51a 100644
--- a/checks/lib/test-base.nix
+++ b/checks/lib/test-base.nix
@@ -8,14 +8,21 @@ in
   hostPkgs = pkgs;
   # speed-up evaluation
   defaults = (
-    { config, ... }:
+    { config, options, ... }:
     {
       imports = [
         ./minify.nix
       ];
-      documentation.enable = lib.mkDefault false;
-      nix.settings.min-free = 0;
-      system.stateVersion = config.system.nixos.release;
+      config = lib.mkMerge [
+        (lib.optionalAttrs (options ? clan) {
+          clan.core.settings.machine.name = config.networking.hostName;
+        })
+        {
+          documentation.enable = lib.mkDefault false;
+          nix.settings.min-free = 0;
+          system.stateVersion = config.system.nixos.release;
+        }
+      ];
     }
   );
 
diff --git a/lib/build-clan/module.nix b/lib/build-clan/module.nix
index e55e5ff5c..c92800197 100644
--- a/lib/build-clan/module.nix
+++ b/lib/build-clan/module.nix
@@ -94,9 +94,6 @@ let
               # Inherited from clan wide settings
               # TODO: remove these
 
-              # Machine specific settings
-              # clan.core.settings.machine.name = name;
-
               networking.hostName = lib.mkDefault name;
 
               # For vars we need to override the system so we run vars
diff --git a/nixosModules/clanCore/metadata.nix b/nixosModules/clanCore/metadata.nix
index 748d2b076..f0278a6ee 100644
--- a/nixosModules/clanCore/metadata.nix
+++ b/nixosModules/clanCore/metadata.nix
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ in
               options = {
                 name = mkOption {
                   type = types.str;
-                  default = "nixos";
+                  readOnly = true;
                   description = ''
                     the name of the machine
                   '';