diff --git a/cli/cmd/init.go b/cli/cmd/init.go
index c18a3ebacd..6fd4192cc0 100644
--- a/cli/cmd/init.go
+++ b/cli/cmd/init.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/cortexlabs/cortex/pkg/lib/errors"
 	"github.com/cortexlabs/cortex/pkg/lib/files"
+	"github.com/cortexlabs/cortex/pkg/lib/urls"
 )
 
 var initCmd = &cobra.Command{
@@ -35,6 +36,10 @@ var initCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		appName := args[0]
 
+		if err := urls.CheckDNS1123(appName); err != nil {
+			errors.Exit(err)
+		}
+
 		cwd, err := os.Getwd()
 		if err != nil {
 			errors.Exit(err)
diff --git a/pkg/lib/configreader/string.go b/pkg/lib/configreader/string.go
index e0ecec4189..4b13ead1a0 100644
--- a/pkg/lib/configreader/string.go
+++ b/pkg/lib/configreader/string.go
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ type StringValidation struct {
 	AlphaNumericDashDotUnderscore        bool
 	AlphaNumericDashUnderscore           bool
 	DNS1035                              bool
+	DNS1123                              bool
 	Validator                            func(string) (string, error)
 }
 
@@ -203,6 +204,12 @@ func ValidateStringVal(val string, v *StringValidation) error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if v.DNS1123 {
+		if err := urls.CheckDNS1123(val); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/lib/configreader/string_ptr.go b/pkg/lib/configreader/string_ptr.go
index e067ef0ab1..2c0cac4288 100644
--- a/pkg/lib/configreader/string_ptr.go
+++ b/pkg/lib/configreader/string_ptr.go
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ type StringPtrValidation struct {
 	AlphaNumericDashDotUnderscore bool
 	AlphaNumericDashUnderscore    bool
 	DNS1035                       bool
+	DNS1123                       bool
 	Validator                     func(*string) (*string, error)
 }
 
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ func makeStringValValidation(v *StringPtrValidation) *StringValidation {
 		AlphaNumericDashDotUnderscore: v.AlphaNumericDashDotUnderscore,
 		AlphaNumericDashUnderscore:    v.AlphaNumericDashUnderscore,
 		DNS1035:                       v.DNS1035,
+		DNS1123:                       v.DNS1123,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/lib/urls/errors.go b/pkg/lib/urls/errors.go
index 7dc9fc8191..ade48f4bc7 100644
--- a/pkg/lib/urls/errors.go
+++ b/pkg/lib/urls/errors.go
@@ -28,15 +28,17 @@ const (
 	ErrUnknown ErrorKind = iota
 	ErrInvalidURL
 	ErrDNS1035
+	ErrDNS1123
 )
 
 var errorKinds = []string{
 	"err_unknown",
 	"err_invalid_url",
 	"err_dns1035",
+	"err_dns1123",
 }
 
-var _ = [1]int{}[int(ErrDNS1035)-(len(errorKinds)-1)] // Ensure list length matches
+var _ = [1]int{}[int(ErrDNS1123)-(len(errorKinds)-1)] // Ensure list length matches
 
 func (t ErrorKind) String() string {
 	return errorKinds[t]
@@ -94,3 +96,10 @@ func ErrorDNS1035(provided string) error {
 		message: fmt.Sprintf("%s must contain only lower case letters, numbers, and dashes, start with a letter, and cannot end with a dash", s.UserStr(provided)),
 	}
 }
+
+func ErrorDNS1123(provided string) error {
+	return Error{
+		Kind:    ErrDNS1123,
+		message: fmt.Sprintf("%s must consist of lower case alphanumeric characters, '-' or '.', and must start and end with an alphanumeric character", s.UserStr(provided)),
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/lib/urls/urls.go b/pkg/lib/urls/urls.go
index 6e9333bfc6..00dc5377b4 100644
--- a/pkg/lib/urls/urls.go
+++ b/pkg/lib/urls/urls.go
@@ -24,7 +24,10 @@ import (
 	s "github.com/cortexlabs/cortex/pkg/lib/strings"
 )
 
-var dns1035Regex = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?$`)
+var (
+	dns1035Regex = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?$`)
+	dns1123Regex = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?(\\.[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?)*$`)
+)
 
 func Parse(rawurl string) (*url.URL, error) {
 	u, err := url.Parse(rawurl)
@@ -49,7 +52,14 @@ func Join(strs ...string) string {
 
 func CheckDNS1035(s string) error {
 	if !dns1035Regex.MatchString(s) {
-		ErrorDNS1035(s)
+		return ErrorDNS1035(s)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func CheckDNS1123(s string) error {
+	if !dns1123Regex.MatchString(s) {
+		return ErrorDNS1123(s)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/operator/api/userconfig/app.go b/pkg/operator/api/userconfig/app.go
index 33fe995ed2..1e05fa8bef 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/api/userconfig/app.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/api/userconfig/app.go
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ var appValidation = &cr.StructValidation{
 			StringValidation: &cr.StringValidation{
 				Required:                   true,
 				AlphaNumericDashUnderscore: true,
+				DNS1123:                    true,
 			},
 		},
 		typeFieldValidation,