Index: head/libexec/getty/gettytab.5
===================================================================
--- head/libexec/getty/gettytab.5
+++ head/libexec/getty/gettytab.5
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 .\"     from: @(#)gettytab.5	8.4 (Berkeley) 4/19/94
 .\" $FreeBSD$
 .\" "
-.Dd April 19, 1994
+.Dd February 2, 2017
 .Dt GETTYTAB 5
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@
 .Em NOT
 hangup line on last close
 .It "he	str" Ta Dv NULL Ta
-.No "hostname editing string"
+.No "hostname editing regular expression"
 .It "hn	str	hostname	hostname"
 .It "ht	bool	false	terminal has real tabs"
 .It "hw	bool	false	do cts/rts hardware flow control"
@@ -302,18 +302,13 @@
 table entry.
 In either case it may be edited with the
 .Va \&he
-string.
-A '@' in the
-.Va \&he
-string causes one character from the real hostname to
-be copied to the final hostname.
-A '#' in the
-.Va \&he
-string causes the next character of the real hostname
-to be skipped.
-Each character that
-is neither '@' nor '#' is copied into the final hostname.
-Surplus '@' and '#' characters are ignored.
+POSIX
+.Dq extended
+regular expression, which is matched against the hostname.
+If there are no parenthesized subexpressions in the pattern,
+the entire matched string is used as the final hostname;
+otherwise, the first matched subexpression is used instead.
+If the pattern does not match, the original hostname is not modified.
 .It \&%t
 The tty name.
 .It "\&%m, \&%r, \&%s, \&%v"
@@ -528,10 +523,6 @@
 The terminal driver should support sane delay settings.
 .Pp
 The
-.Va \&he
-capability is stupid.
-.Pp
-The
 .Xr termcap 5
 format is horrid, something more rational should
 have been chosen.
Index: head/libexec/getty/subr.c
===================================================================
--- head/libexec/getty/subr.c
+++ head/libexec/getty/subr.c
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 #include <sys/time.h>
 
 #include <poll.h>
+#include <regex.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <syslog.h>
@@ -53,8 +54,6 @@
 #include "pathnames.h"
 #include "extern.h"
 
-
-
 /*
  * Get a table entry.
  */
@@ -469,42 +468,48 @@
 char	editedhost[MAXHOSTNAMELEN];
 
 void
-edithost(const char *pat)
+edithost(const char *pattern)
 {
-	const char *host = HN;
-	char *res = editedhost;
-
-	if (!pat)
-		pat = "";
-	while (*pat) {
-		switch (*pat) {
-
-		case '#':
-			if (*host)
-				host++;
-			break;
-
-		case '@':
-			if (*host)
-				*res++ = *host++;
-			break;
-
-		default:
-			*res++ = *pat;
-			break;
+	regex_t regex;
+	regmatch_t *match;
+	int found;
+
+	if (pattern == NULL || *pattern == '\0')
+		goto copyasis;
+	if (regcomp(&regex, pattern, REG_EXTENDED) != 0)
+		goto copyasis;
+
+	match = calloc(regex.re_nsub + 1, sizeof(*match));
+	if (match == NULL) {
+		regfree(&regex);
+		goto copyasis;
+	}
+
+	found = !regexec(&regex, HN, regex.re_nsub + 1, match, 0);
+	if (found) {
+		size_t subex, totalsize;
 
-		}
-		if (res == &editedhost[sizeof editedhost - 1]) {
-			*res = '\0';
-			return;
-		}
-		pat++;
-	}
-	if (*host)
-		strncpy(res, host, sizeof editedhost - (res - editedhost) - 1);
-	else
-		*res = '\0';
-	editedhost[sizeof editedhost - 1] = '\0';
+		/*
+		 * We found a match.  If there were no parenthesized
+		 * subexpressions in the pattern, use entire matched
+		 * string as ``editedhost''; otherwise use the first
+		 * matched subexpression.
+		 */
+		subex = !!regex.re_nsub;
+		totalsize = match[subex].rm_eo - match[subex].rm_so + 1;
+		strlcpy(editedhost, HN + match[subex].rm_so, totalsize >
+		    sizeof(editedhost) ? sizeof(editedhost) : totalsize);
+	}
+	free(match);
+	regfree(&regex);
+	if (found)
+		return;
+	/*
+	 * In case of any errors, or if the pattern did not match, pass
+	 * the original hostname as is.
+	 */
+ copyasis:
+	strlcpy(editedhost, HN, sizeof(editedhost));
 }
 
 static struct speedtab {