diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 3f43f4561..379b35280 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -230,8 +230,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	/* set up l18n - the search directory needs to change
 	 * so that it uses the correct system directory when
 	 * subsurface isn't run from the local directory */
-	setlocale( LC_ALL, "" );
 	path = subsurface_gettext_domainpath();
+	setlocale( LC_ALL, "" );
 	bindtextdomain("subsurface", path);
 	bind_textdomain_codeset("subsurface", "utf-8");
 	textdomain("subsurface");
diff --git a/windows.c b/windows.c
index b099193f8..6ee763245 100644
--- a/windows.c
+++ b/windows.c
@@ -153,6 +153,9 @@ const char *subsurface_default_filename()
 
 const char *subsurface_gettext_domainpath()
 {
+	char buffer[80];
+	snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "LANGUAGE=%s.UTF-8", g_win32_getlocale());
+	putenv(buffer);
 	return "./locale";
 }