diff --git a/src/UI/UIDesktop.js b/src/UI/UIDesktop.js
index 3576fa80..8de879c9 100644
--- a/src/UI/UIDesktop.js
+++ b/src/UI/UIDesktop.js
@@ -503,6 +503,7 @@ async function UIDesktop(options){
     // update local user preferences
     const user_preferences = {
         show_hidden_files: (await puter.kv.get('user_preferences.show_hidden_files')) === 'true',
+        language: (await puter.kv.get('user_preferences.language'))
     };
     update_user_preferences(user_preferences);
 
diff --git a/src/helpers.js b/src/helpers.js
index a318fb73..f275342d 100644
--- a/src/helpers.js
+++ b/src/helpers.js
@@ -722,6 +722,7 @@ window.mutate_user_preferences = function(user_preferences_delta) {
 window.update_user_preferences = function(user_preferences) {
     window.user_preferences = user_preferences;
     localStorage.setItem('user_preferences', JSON.stringify(user_preferences));
+    window.locale = user_preferences.language;
 }
 
 window.sendWindowWillCloseMsg = function(iframe_element) {
diff --git a/src/i18n/i18n.js b/src/i18n/i18n.js
index c3cea967..015cfaf7 100644
--- a/src/i18n/i18n.js
+++ b/src/i18n/i18n.js
@@ -10,11 +10,8 @@ window.i18n = function (key, replacements = [], encode_html = true) {
         replacements = [replacements];
     }
 
-    // if locale is not set, default to en
-    if(!translations[window.locale])
-        window.locale = 'en';
-
-    let str = translations[window.locale].dictionary[key];
+    let language = translations[window.locale] ?? translations['en'];
+    let str = language.dictionary[key] ?? translations['en'].dictionary[key];
     
     if (!str) {
         str = key;
diff --git a/src/initgui.js b/src/initgui.js
index b01bd6f1..5b0171b6 100644
--- a/src/initgui.js
+++ b/src/initgui.js
@@ -46,9 +46,6 @@ window.initgui = async function(){
     if(window.api_origin && puter.APIOrigin !== window.api_origin)
         puter.setAPIOrigin(api_origin);
 
-    // determine locale
-    window.locale = window.user_preferences.language;
-
     // Checks the type of device the user is on (phone, tablet, or desktop).
     // Depending on the device type, it sets a class attribute on the body tag 
     // to style or script the page differently for each device type.