diff --git a/pelican/settings.py b/pelican/settings.py
index 01203504..5c1bd8f3 100644
--- a/pelican/settings.py
+++ b/pelican/settings.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     'MD_EXTENSIONS': ['codehilite(css_class=highlight)', 'extra'],
     'JINJA_EXTENSIONS': [],
     'JINJA_FILTERS': {},
-    'LOCALE': [],  # defaults to user locale
+    'LOCALE': [''],  # defaults to user locale
     'DEFAULT_PAGINATION': False,
     'DEFAULT_ORPHANS': 0,
     'DEFAULT_METADATA': (),