diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index e880bad..378f18e 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ libcriterion_la_SOURCES = \
 	src/options.c \
 	src/timer.c \
 	src/timer.h \
+	src/i18n.c \
+	src/i18n.h \
 	src/ordered-set.c \
 	src/main.c
 
diff --git a/src/i18n.c b/src/i18n.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9507789
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/i18n.c
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#include "i18n.h"
+
+#ifdef I18N
+__attribute__ ((constructor))
+void init_i18n(void) {
+    bindtextdomain (PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 467e49d..f263fd5 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <criterion/options.h>
 #include <criterion/ordered-set.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <locale.h>
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <csptr/smart_ptr.h>
 #include "runner.h"
@@ -118,6 +119,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         {0,                 0,                  0,  0 }
     };
 
+    setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
+
     criterion_options = (struct criterion_options) {
         .always_succeed    = !strcmp("1", getenv("CRITERION_ALWAYS_SUCCEED") ?: "0"),
         .no_early_exit     = !strcmp("1", getenv("CRITERION_NO_EARLY_EXIT")  ?: "0"),