diff --git a/scripts/setup.sh b/scripts/setup.sh
index 91870c7..c67474b 100644
--- a/scripts/setup.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup.sh
@@ -131,7 +131,13 @@ if ! command -v node > /dev/null; then
 fi
 
 # 2.4 Hostname & WiFi Country
-hostnamectl set-hostname "$HOSTNAME"
+# hostnamectl requires systemd/D-Bus — use direct file writes as a universal fallback
+if command -v hostnamectl > /dev/null 2>&1 && systemctl is-system-running --quiet 2>/dev/null; then
+  hostnamectl set-hostname "$HOSTNAME"
+else
+  echo "$HOSTNAME" > /etc/hostname
+  hostname "$HOSTNAME" 2>/dev/null || true
+fi
 sed -i "s/127.0.1.1.*/127.0.1.1\t$HOSTNAME/g" /etc/hosts || true
 
 # 2.5 OS-Agnostic Swap Increase (2GB)