diff --git a/nova/conf/compute.py b/nova/conf/compute.py
index a709b3195b49..e69dc2722593 100644
--- a/nova/conf/compute.py
+++ b/nova/conf/compute.py
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ Possible values:
 compute_manager_opts = [
     cfg.StrOpt('console_host',
         default=socket.gethostname(),
-        sample_default="socket.gethostname()",
+        sample_default="<current_hostname>",
         help="""
 Console proxy host to be used to connect to instances on this host. It is the
 publicly visible name for the console host.
diff --git a/nova/conf/xenserver.py b/nova/conf/xenserver.py
index 415ce46f14a1..1cffeba72b4f 100644
--- a/nova/conf/xenserver.py
+++ b/nova/conf/xenserver.py
@@ -648,13 +648,14 @@ that adding new host will fail, thus option to force join was introduced.
 xenapi_console_opts = [
     cfg.StrOpt('console_public_hostname',
         default=socket.gethostname(),
+        sample_default='<current_hostname>',
         deprecated_group='DEFAULT',
         help="""
 Publicly visible name for this console host.
 
 Possible values:
 
-* A string representing a valid hostname
+* Current hostname (default) or any string representing hostname.
 """),
 ]