diff --git a/localization/localization.py b/localization/localization.py
index 4ccd9c8..d15be0b 100644
--- a/localization/localization.py
+++ b/localization/localization.py
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 import locale
 
 system_locale = locale.getdefaultlocale()[0]
-system_language = system_locale[0:2]
+# system_locale may be nil
+system_language = system_locale[0:2] if system_locale is not None else "en"
 
 windows_font_name_map = {
     'en' : 'cour',