diff --git a/awesome/init.fnl b/awesome/init.fnl
index daa5f0b..9e8bc98 100644
--- a/awesome/init.fnl
+++ b/awesome/init.fnl
@@ -68,10 +68,10 @@
 (local alt "Mod1")
 
 ;; Set hostname so that we can utilize specific features on different machines
-(global hostname-handle (io.popen "hostname"))
-(global hostname (hostname-handle:read "a"))
-(hostname-handle:close)
-(local laptop (if (= hostname "syl")))
+(awful.spawn.easy_async "cat /etc/hostname" (fn [ stdout stderr reason exit_code ]
+                                                (if (= "syl\n" stdout)
+                                                    (global laptop true)
+                                                    (global laptop false))))
 
 ;; Table of layouts to cover with awful.layout.inc, order matters.
 (set awful.layout.layouts [