While unstructured P2P systems have been embraced widely in mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs), the applicability of structured approaches like distributed hash tables (DHTs) to such settings remains controversial. Existing research delivers promising empirical results addressing the concerns about performance, complexity, and reliability, but does not analyze the principles of combining DHTs and MANETs. This paper identifies and discusses the fundamental implications of non-infrastructural networks for DHTs and analyzes solutions to these challenges.