diff --git a/cmake/Modules/FindGettextLib.cmake b/cmake/Modules/FindGettextLib.cmake
index b99fd33..1c36f8c 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/FindGettextLib.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/FindGettextLib.cmake
@@ -77,4 +77,7 @@ IF(GETTEXT_FOUND)
 		STRING(REPLACE "<locale>" ${_locale} ${_buildvar} ${GETTEXT_MO_BUILD_PATH})
 		STRING(REPLACE "<locale>" ${_locale} ${_destvar} ${GETTEXT_MO_DEST_PATH})
 	ENDMACRO(SET_MO_PATHS)
+ELSE()
+	SET(GETTEXT_INCLUDE_DIR "")
+	SET(GETTEXT_LIBRARY "")
 ENDIF()
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index c93762c..5554ec4 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,10 +5,11 @@ if(RUN_IN_PLACE)
 	add_definitions ( -DRUN_IN_PLACE )
 endif(RUN_IN_PLACE)
 
-OPTION(USE_GETTEXT "Use GetText for internationalization" OFF)
+OPTION(USE_GETTEXT "Use GetText for internationalization" ON)
 
-if(USE_GETTEXT)
-	find_package(GettextLib REQUIRED)
+find_package(GettextLib)
+
+if(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
 	message(STATUS "gettext include path: ${GETTEXT_INCLUDE_DIR}")
 	message(STATUS "gettext msgfmt path: ${GETTEXT_MSGFMT}")
 	if(WIN32)
@@ -16,16 +17,12 @@ if(USE_GETTEXT)
 		message(STATUS "gettext dll: ${GETTEXT_DLL}")
 		message(STATUS "gettext iconv dll: ${GETTEXT_ICONV_DLL}")
 	endif()
-	if (GETTEXT_FOUND)
-		add_definitions( -DUSE_GETTEXT )
-		message(STATUS "GetText enabled; locales found: ${GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES}")
-	else()
-		message(STATUS "ERROR: GetText enabled but not found, disabling")
-		set(USE_GETTEXT FALSE)
-	endif(GETTEXT_FOUND)
-else(USE_GETTEXT)
+	message(STATUS "GetText enabled; locales found: ${GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES}")
+elseif(GETTEXT_FOUND AND NOT USE_GETTEXT)
+	MESSAGE(STATUS "GetText found but disabled;")
+else(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
 	message(STATUS "GetText disabled")
-endif(USE_GETTEXT)
+endif(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
 
 if(NOT MSVC)
 	set(USE_GPROF 0 CACHE BOOL "Use -pg flag for g++")
@@ -268,7 +265,7 @@ if(BUILD_CLIENT)
 
 	install(FILES ${images} DESTINATION ${DATADIR})
 
-	if (USE_GETTEXT)
+	if(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
 		foreach(LOCALE ${GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES})
 			set_mo_paths(MO_BUILD_PATH MO_DEST_PATH ${LOCALE})
 			set(MO_BUILD_PATH "${MO_BUILD_PATH}/${PROJECT_NAME}.mo")
@@ -283,14 +280,14 @@ if(BUILD_CLIENT)
 		if(DEFINED ZLIB_DLL)
 			install(FILES ${ZLIB_DLL} DESTINATION ${BINDIR})
 		endif()
-		if(USE_GETTEXT)
+		if(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
 			if(DEFINED GETTEXT_DLL)
 				install(FILES ${GETTEXT_DLL} DESTINATION ${BINDIR})
 			endif()
 			if(DEFINED GETTEXT_ICONV_DLL)
 				install(FILES ${GETTEXT_ICONV_DLL} DESTINATION ${BINDIR})
 			endif()
-		endif(USE_GETTEXT)
+		endif(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
 	endif()
 endif(BUILD_CLIENT)
 
@@ -298,7 +295,7 @@ if(BUILD_SERVER)
 	install(TARGETS ${PROJECT_NAME}server DESTINATION ${BINDIR})
 endif(BUILD_SERVER)
 
-if (USE_GETTEXT)
+if (GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
 	add_custom_command(OUTPUT "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/en"
 		COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E make_directory "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/en"
 		COMMENT "po-update [en]: creating translation template base directory")
@@ -347,7 +344,7 @@ if (USE_GETTEXT)
 
 	add_custom_target(translations ALL COMMENT "mo update" DEPENDS ${MO_FILES})
 	add_custom_target(updatepo COMMENT "po update" DEPENDS ${PO_FILES})
-endif(USE_GETTEXT)
+endif(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
 
 # Subdirectories
 
diff --git a/src/gettext.h b/src/gettext.h
index 8ddb953..e74b4eb 100644
--- a/src/gettext.h
+++ b/src/gettext.h
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#ifdef GETTEXT_FOUND
 #ifdef USE_GETTEXT
 #include <libintl.h>
 #else
@@ -5,6 +6,11 @@
 #define bindtextdomain(domain, dir) /* */
 #define textdomain(domain) /* */
 #endif
+#else
+#define gettext(String) String
+#define bindtextdomain(domain, dir) /* */
+#define textdomain(domain) /* */
+#endif
 
 #define _(String) gettext(String)
 #define gettext_noop(String) String
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index b94d0c3..11941a4 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -1132,10 +1132,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	// Create user data directory
 	fs::CreateDir(porting::path_userdata);
 
+#ifdef LC_MESSAGES
 	setlocale(LC_MESSAGES, "");
 	bindtextdomain("minetest", (porting::path_userdata+"/locale").c_str());
 	textdomain("minetest");
-	
+#endif
+
 	// Initialize debug streams
 #ifdef RUN_IN_PLACE
 	std::string debugfile = DEBUGFILE;