While many nationalism theorists define nationalism in terms of the desire for an independent state, empirical study shows that many nationalists make demands that not only fall short of statehood, but explicitly abjure claims to political independence. We document non‐state‐seeking nationalism with three case studies: Welsh national politics in the decades before the First World War, Catalan national politics related to the 2006 Status law, and Slovak national politics in response to Magyarization at the time of the 1867 Settlement. The phenomenon of non‐state‐seeking nationalism calls into question the utility of initial definitions in nationalism studies. Instead of imposing definitions by fiat, we argue that nationalism theorists should analyze the explicit or implicit definitions of historical actors.