diff --git a/src/util/platform.cpp b/src/util/platform.cpp
index 061c78e2..77513fa9 100644
--- a/src/util/platform.cpp
+++ b/src/util/platform.cpp
@@ -65,17 +65,21 @@ int platform::get_process_id() {
 #else // _WIN32
 
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include "frontend/locale.hpp"
 
 void platform::configure_encoding() {
 }
 
 std::string platform::detect_locale() {
-    std::string programLocaleName = setlocale(LC_ALL, nullptr);
-    std::string preferredLocaleName =
+    const char* const programLocaleName = setlocale(LC_ALL, nullptr);
+    const char* const preferredLocaleName =
         setlocale(LC_ALL, "");  // locale name format: ll_CC.encoding
-    setlocale(LC_ALL, programLocaleName.c_str());
+    if (programLocaleName && preferredLocaleName) {
+        setlocale(LC_ALL, programLocaleName);
 
-    return preferredLocaleName.substr(0, 5);
+        return std::string(preferredLocaleName, 5);
+    }
+    return langs::FALLBACK_DEFAULT;
 }
 
 void platform::sleep(size_t millis) {