diff --git a/xCAT-server/sbin/makenamed.conf b/xCAT-server/sbin/makenamed.conf
index 22e1fbbc6..66487f9d9 100755
--- a/xCAT-server/sbin/makenamed.conf
+++ b/xCAT-server/sbin/makenamed.conf
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@ is_lsb_ubuntu ()
 
 DIRECTORY=/var/named
 
-if [ -f /etc/SuSE-release ]; then
+# check for SLES
+grep -s -q sles /etc/os-release
+IS_SLES=$?
+if [ -f /etc/SuSE-release ] || [ $IS_SLES -eq 0 ]; then
   DIRECTORY=/var/lib/named
 fi
 FILE=/etc/named.conf