diff --git a/pelican/__init__.py b/pelican/__init__.py
index f599cc46..05b8c216 100755
--- a/pelican/__init__.py
+++ b/pelican/__init__.py
@@ -18,13 +18,14 @@ class Pelican(object):
         before doing anything else.
         """
         self.path = path or settings['PATH']
-        if path or self.path.endswith('/'):
+        if not self.path:
+            raise Exception('you need to specify a path to search the docs on !')
+        if self.path.endswith('/'):
             self.path = path[:-1]
 
         # define the default settings
         self.settings = settings
         self.theme = theme or settings['THEME']
-        self.path = path
         output_path = output_path or settings['OUTPUT_PATH']
         self.output_path = os.path.realpath(output_path)
         self.markup = markup or settings['MARKUP']
@@ -39,11 +40,6 @@ class Pelican(object):
             else:
                 raise Exception("Impossible to find the theme %s" % theme)
 
-        # get the list of files to parse
-        if not self.path:
-            raise Exception('you need to specify a path to search the docs on !')
-
-
     def run(self):
         """Run the generators and return"""
 
diff --git a/pelican/writers.py b/pelican/writers.py
index ea53aead..c40c0ea3 100644
--- a/pelican/writers.py
+++ b/pelican/writers.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class Writer(object):
         :param filename: the filename to output.
         :param feed_type: the feed type to use (atom or rss)
         """
-        old_locale = locale.getlocale(locale.LC_ALL)
+        old_locale = locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL)
         locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'C')
         try:
             self.site_url = context.get('SITEURL', get_relative_path(filename))