diff --git a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/client/ZKClientConfig.java b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/client/ZKClientConfig.java
index 3ba4c6af659..835a7553a0b 100644
--- a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/client/ZKClientConfig.java
+++ b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/client/ZKClientConfig.java
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ protected void handleBackwardCompatibility() {
          * backward compatibility for client specific properties
          */
         setProperty(ZK_SASL_CLIENT_USERNAME, System.getProperty(ZK_SASL_CLIENT_USERNAME));
+        setProperty(ZK_SASL_CLIENT_CANONICALIZE_HOSTNAME, System.getProperty(ZK_SASL_CLIENT_CANONICALIZE_HOSTNAME));
         setProperty(LOGIN_CONTEXT_NAME_KEY, System.getProperty(LOGIN_CONTEXT_NAME_KEY));
         setProperty(ENABLE_CLIENT_SASL_KEY, System.getProperty(ENABLE_CLIENT_SASL_KEY));
         setProperty(ZOOKEEPER_SERVER_REALM, System.getProperty(ZOOKEEPER_SERVER_REALM));