diff --git a/bin/tools/translate.py b/bin/tools/translate.py
index e8ff793fa4a..bae9b68a882 100644
--- a/bin/tools/translate.py
+++ b/bin/tools/translate.py
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ def trans_load_data(db_name, fileobj, fileformat, lang, strict=False, lang_name=
             fail = True
             for ln in get_locales(lang):
                 try:
-                    locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, ln)
+                    locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, str(ln))
                     fail = False
                     break
                 except locale.Error: