diff --git a/docs/settings.rst b/docs/settings.rst
index 5775edf1..ddc41681 100644
--- a/docs/settings.rst
+++ b/docs/settings.rst
@@ -39,7 +39,10 @@ Setting name (default value)                        what does it do?
 `JINJA_EXTENSIONS` (``[]``)                         A list of any Jinja2 extensions you want to use.
 `DELETE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY` (``False``)               Delete the output directory and just
                                                     the generated files.
-`LOCALE` (''[1]_)                                   Change the locale.
+`LOCALE` (''[1]_)                                   Change the locale. A list of locales can be provided 
+                                                    here or a single string representing one locale.
+                                                    When providing a list, all the locales will be tried 
+                                                    until one works.
 `MARKUP` (``('rst', 'md')``)                        A list of available markup languages you want
                                                     to use. For the moment, only available values
                                                     are `rst` and `md`.
diff --git a/pelican/settings.py b/pelican/settings.py
index 55577d84..e5afa63d 100644
--- a/pelican/settings.py
+++ b/pelican/settings.py
@@ -53,6 +53,19 @@ def read_settings(filename):
             if key.isupper():
                 context[key] = tempdict[key]
 
+    # if locales is not a list, make it one
+    locales = context['LOCALE']
+
+    if type(locales) is str:
+        locales = [str]
+
+    # try to set the different locales, fallback on the default.
+    for locale_ in context['LOCALE']:
+        try:
+            locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, locale_)
+            break # break if it is successfull
+        except locale.Error:
+            pass
+
     # set the locale
-    locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, context['LOCALE'])
     return context