diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4d73585..46f2141 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 - Support app service rollbacks with `abra <app> rollback <service>` ([#76](https://git.autonomic.zone/coop-cloud/abra/issues/76))
 - Detect when latest version is deployed and perform a no-op ([#87](https://git.autonomic.zone/coop-cloud/abra/issues/87))
 - Allow cloning of app repos with different main branches using `-b, --branch=<branch>` ([#80](https://git.autonomic.zone/coop-cloud/abra/issues/80))
+- Protect against lengthy app names which gives Docker trouble later on ([#83](https://git.autonomic.zone/coop-cloud/abra/issues/83))
 
 # abra 0.5.0 (2021-03-01)
 
diff --git a/abra b/abra
index fef885c..d5e84ad 100755
--- a/abra
+++ b/abra
@@ -759,6 +759,10 @@ sub_app_new (){
     fi
   fi
 
+  if [ ${#APP_NAME} -gt 45 ]; then
+    error "$APP_NAME cannot be longer than 45 characters in length"
+  fi
+
   ENV_FILE="$SERVER/$APP_NAME.env"
 
   if [ -f "$ENV_FILE" ]; then