diff --git a/rethinkdb/gevent_net/net_gevent.py b/rethinkdb/gevent_net/net_gevent.py
index 2969922e..a151ba5c 100644
--- a/rethinkdb/gevent_net/net_gevent.py
+++ b/rethinkdb/gevent_net/net_gevent.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 from rethinkdb import net, ql2_pb2
 from rethinkdb.errors import ReqlAuthError, ReqlCursorEmpty, ReqlDriverError, ReqlTimeoutError, RqlDriverError, \
     RqlTimeoutError
-from rethinkdb.helpers import get_hostname_for_ssl_match
 from rethinkdb.logger import default_logger
 
 __all__ = ['Connection']
@@ -104,10 +103,7 @@ def __init__(self, parent):
                     self._socket.close()
                     raise ReqlDriverError("SSL handshake failed (see server log for more information): %s" % str(exc))
                 try:
-                    ssl.match_hostname(
-                        self._socket.getpeercert(),
-                        hostname=get_hostname_for_ssl_match(self.host)
-                    )
+                    ssl.match_hostname(self._socket.getpeercert(), hostname=self.host)
                 except ssl.CertificateError:
                     self._socket.close()
                     raise
diff --git a/rethinkdb/helpers.py b/rethinkdb/helpers.py
index 46152e49..4a161286 100644
--- a/rethinkdb/helpers.py
+++ b/rethinkdb/helpers.py
@@ -1,22 +1,10 @@
 import six
 
-
 def decode_utf8(string, encoding='utf-8'):
     if hasattr(string, 'decode'):
         return string.decode(encoding)
 
     return string
 
-
 def chain_to_bytes(*strings):
     return b''.join([six.b(string) if isinstance(string, six.string_types) else string for string in strings])
-
-
-def get_hostname_for_ssl_match(hostname):
-    parts = hostname.split('.')
-
-    if len(parts) < 3:
-        return hostname
-
-    parts[0] = '*'
-    return '.'.join(parts)
diff --git a/rethinkdb/net.py b/rethinkdb/net.py
index 155e038d..5a4c8ddc 100644
--- a/rethinkdb/net.py
+++ b/rethinkdb/net.py
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@
     ReqlTimeoutError,
     ReqlUserError)
 from rethinkdb.handshake import HandshakeV1_0
-from rethinkdb.helpers import get_hostname_for_ssl_match
 from rethinkdb.logger import default_logger
 
 __all__ = ['Connection', 'Cursor', 'DEFAULT_PORT', 'DefaultConnection', 'make_connection']
@@ -353,10 +352,7 @@ def __init__(self, parent, timeout):
                             "SSL handshake failed (see server log for more information): %s" %
                             str(err))
                 try:
-                    ssl.match_hostname(
-                        self._socket.getpeercert(),
-                        hostname=get_hostname_for_ssl_match(self.host)
-                    )
+                    match_hostname(self._socket.getpeercert(), hostname=self.host)
                 except CertificateError:
                     self._socket.close()
                     raise
diff --git a/tests/test_helpers.py b/tests/test_helpers.py
index 68e5fefb..ca868de6 100644
--- a/tests/test_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/test_helpers.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import pytest
 from mock import Mock
-from rethinkdb.helpers import decode_utf8, chain_to_bytes, get_hostname_for_ssl_match
+from rethinkdb.helpers import decode_utf8, chain_to_bytes
 
 @pytest.mark.unit
 class TestDecodeUTF8Helper(object):
@@ -42,34 +42,3 @@ def test_mixed_chaining(self):
         result = chain_to_bytes('iron', ' ', b'man')
 
         assert result == expected_string
-
-
-@pytest.mark.unit
-class TestSSLMatchHostHostnameHelper(object):
-    def test_subdomain_replaced_to_star(self):
-        expected_string = '*.example.com'
-
-        result = get_hostname_for_ssl_match('test.example.com')
-
-        assert result == expected_string
-
-    def test_subdomain_replaced_to_star_special_tld(self):
-        expected_string = '*.example.co.uk'
-
-        result = get_hostname_for_ssl_match('test.example.co.uk')
-
-        assert result == expected_string
-
-    def test_no_subdomain_to_replace(self):
-        expected_string = 'example.com'
-
-        result = get_hostname_for_ssl_match(expected_string)
-
-        assert result == expected_string
-
-    def test_no_tld(self):
-        expected_string = 'localhost'
-
-        result = get_hostname_for_ssl_match(expected_string)
-
-        assert result == expected_string