diff --git a/cli/internal/new.go b/cli/internal/new.go
index 14847121..3d672524 100644
--- a/cli/internal/new.go
+++ b/cli/internal/new.go
@@ -106,9 +106,6 @@ func NewAction(c *cli.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	sanitisedAppName := config.SanitiseAppName(Domain)
-	if len(sanitisedAppName) > 45 {
-		logrus.Fatalf("%s cannot be longer than 45 characters", sanitisedAppName)
-	}
 	logrus.Debugf("%s sanitised as %s for new app", Domain, sanitisedAppName)
 
 	if err := config.TemplateAppEnvSample(recipe.Name, Domain, NewAppServer, Domain); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/config/app.go b/pkg/config/app.go
index 03ba0e89..a2868d42 100644
--- a/pkg/config/app.go
+++ b/pkg/config/app.go
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ func (a App) StackName() string {
 	}
 
 	stackName := SanitiseAppName(a.Name)
+
+	if len(stackName) > 45 {
+		logrus.Debugf("trimming %s to %s to avoid runtime limits", stackName, stackName[:45])
+		stackName = stackName[:45]
+	}
+
 	a.Env["STACK_NAME"] = stackName
 
 	return stackName