diff --git a/deluge/core/daemon.py b/deluge/core/daemon.py
index 90bfb79b0..a943ac71d 100644
--- a/deluge/core/daemon.py
+++ b/deluge/core/daemon.py
@@ -105,6 +105,8 @@ class Daemon(object):
             gettext.install("deluge", pkg_resources.resource_filename("deluge", "i18n"))
         except Exception, e:
             log.error("Unable to initialize gettext/locale: %s", e)
+            import __builtin__
+            __builtin__.__dict__["_"] = lambda x: x
 
         # Twisted catches signals to terminate, so just have it call the shutdown
         # method.