What is a lame delegation, and how do you fix it?
A lame delegation happens when the parent zone (for example .com) lists a nameserver for your domain, but that server does not actually answer authoritatively for it. Resolvers that pick that server get no useful answer and have to retry elsewhere.
Why it matters
Lookups still work if at least one listed server is healthy, so the problem often hides. It shows up as slow or intermittent resolution, because some queries are sent to the broken server first. RFC 1912 calls it out as a common cause of DNS failures.
Common causes
- You moved DNS providers but the registrar still lists the old nameservers.
- A nameserver was decommissioned and never removed from the delegation.
- The zone was deleted at the provider, or never created there.
- A typo in a nameserver hostname at the registrar.
How to fix it
- Run DNSLint on your domain and note which nameservers it flags.
- Check that each flagged server really hosts your zone at its provider.
- If it does not, either create the zone there or remove the server from the delegation at your registrar.
- Make sure the NS records inside your zone match the ones at the registrar.
- Run the check again. Registry changes can take up to a day to propagate.