diff --git a/src/Main/locale.cxx b/src/Main/locale.cxx
index 2a1bb168a..3625aff48 100644
--- a/src/Main/locale.cxx
+++ b/src/Main/locale.cxx
@@ -170,7 +170,11 @@ FGLocale::selectLanguage(const char *language)
         languages.insert(languages.begin(), string(language));
     }
 
-    
+    _currentLocaleString = removeEncodingPart(languages[0]);
+    if (_currentLocaleString == "C") {
+        _currentLocaleString.clear();
+    }
+
     _currentLocale = NULL;
     BOOST_FOREACH(string lang, languages) {
         SG_LOG(SG_GENERAL, SG_DEBUG, "trying to find locale for " << lang );
@@ -199,6 +203,14 @@ FGLocale::selectLanguage(const char *language)
     return true;
 }
 
+// Return the preferred language according to user choice and/or settings
+// (e.g., 'fr_FR', or the empty string if nothing could be found).
+std::string
+FGLocale::getPreferredLanguage() const
+{
+    return _currentLocaleString;
+}
+
 // Load strings for requested resource and locale.
 // Result is stored below "strings" in the property tree of the given locale.
 bool
diff --git a/src/Main/locale.hxx b/src/Main/locale.hxx
index 67afe772d..30ff4ad60 100644
--- a/src/Main/locale.hxx
+++ b/src/Main/locale.hxx
@@ -42,6 +42,18 @@ public:
      */
     bool        selectLanguage      (const char* language = NULL);
 
+    /** Return the preferred language according to user choice and/or settings.
+     *
+     *  Examples: 'fr_CA', 'de_DE'... or the empty string if nothing could be
+     *            found.
+     *
+     *  Note that this is not necessarily the same as the last value passed to
+     *  selectLanguage(), assuming it was non-null and non-empty, because the
+     *  latter may have an encoding specifier, while values returned by
+     *  getPreferredLanguage() never have that.
+     */
+    std::string getPreferredLanguage() const;
+
     /**
      * Load strings for requested resource, i.e. "menu", "options", "dialogs".
      * Loads data for current and default locale (the latter is the fallback).
@@ -119,10 +131,11 @@ protected:
      * Obtain user's default language setting.
      */
     string_list getUserLanguage();
-    
+
     SGPropertyNode_ptr _intl;
     SGPropertyNode_ptr _currentLocale;
     SGPropertyNode_ptr _defaultLocale;
+    std::string _currentLocaleString;
 
 private:
     /** Return a new string with the character encoding part of the locale