my ($user);

# This isn't defined explicity in production code, I'm just doing it here to
# illustrate what I (could) get back.
$user->{'host'} = '*';

unless ($user->{'host'} > 1) {
    my $hList = $user->{'host'};
    delete $user->{'host'};
    push @{$user->{'host'}}, $hList;
}