Let Ω be a bounded
pseudoconvex open set in n-dimensional complex Euclidean space Cn with
a smooth (𝒞∞)-boundary. It has been known for some time that it is not
always possible to choose a defining function ρ which is plurisubharmonic in a
neighborhood of Ω. We study here the question whether for every point
p ∈ ∂Ω, there exists an open neighborhood on which ρ can be chosen to
be plurisubharmonic. Our main conclusion is that this is not always the
case.