diff --git a/app/controllers/application.rb b/app/controllers/application.rb
index 673d5ba..4d6be3b 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application.rb
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
 
   init_gettext 'noosfero'
   before_init_gettext :force_language
+  after_init_gettext :set_system_locale
 
   include NeedsProfile
 
@@ -72,7 +73,20 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
       cookies[:lang] = lang
     end
 
-    set_locale lang unless lang.blank?
+    unless lang.blank?
+      set_locale lang
+    end
+  end
+
+  def set_system_locale
+    lang = GetText.locale.to_s
+    system_locale =
+      if (lang == 'en') || lang.blank?
+        'C'
+      else
+        ('%s.utf8' % lang)
+      end
+    Locale.setlocale(Locale::LC_ALL, system_locale)
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
index 4d24b59..99f2707 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
@@ -394,10 +394,12 @@ module ApplicationHelper
 
   end
 
+  # formats a date for displaying.
   def show_date(date)
     date.strftime(_('%d %B %Y'))
   end
 
+  # formats a datetime for displaying. 
   def show_time(time)
     time.strftime(_('%d %B %Y, %H:%m'))
   end
diff --git a/config/environment.rb b/config/environment.rb
index d4c6d96..d72fee9 100644
--- a/config/environment.rb
+++ b/config/environment.rb
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ Noosfero.locales = {
   'en' => 'English',
   'pt_BR' => 'Português Brasileiro',
 }
+require 'locale'
 
 Tag.hierarchical = true
 
diff --git a/test/integration/locale_setting_test.rb b/test/integration/locale_setting_test.rb
index 2f6e885..9f6b025 100644
--- a/test/integration/locale_setting_test.rb
+++ b/test/integration/locale_setting_test.rb
@@ -11,18 +11,18 @@ class LocaleSettingTest < ActionController::IntegrationTest
     Noosfero.expects(:default_locale).returns('pt_BR').at_least_once
 
     get '/'
-    assert_equal 'pt_BR', GetText.locale.to_s
+    assert_locale 'pt_BR'
   end
 
   should 'detect locale from the browser' do
 
     # user has pt_BR
     get '/', { }, { 'HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE' => 'pt-br, en' }
-    assert_equal 'pt_BR', GetText.locale.to_s
+    assert_locale 'pt_BR'
 
     # user now wants en
     get '/', { }, { 'HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE' => 'en' }
-    assert_equal 'en', GetText.locale.to_s
+    assert_locale 'en'
 
   end
 
@@ -30,22 +30,38 @@ class LocaleSettingTest < ActionController::IntegrationTest
 
     # set locale to pt_BR
     get '/', :lang => 'pt_BR'
-    assert_equal 'pt_BR', GetText.locale.to_s
+    assert_locale 'pt_BR'
 
     # locale is kept
     get '/'
-    assert_equal 'pt_BR', GetText.locale.to_s
+    assert_locale 'pt_BR'
 
     # changing back
     get '/', :lang => 'en'
-    assert_equal 'en', GetText.locale.to_s
+    assert_locale 'en'
 
     # locale is kept again
     get '/'
-    assert_equal 'en', GetText.locale.to_s
+    assert_locale 'en'
 
   end
 
+  protected 
 
+  def assert_locale(locale)
+    gettext_locale = GetText.locale.to_s
+    ok("Ruby-GetText locale should be #{locale}, but was #{gettext_locale}") { locale == gettext_locale }
 
+    # TODO this test depends on a unpublished patch to liblocale-ruby
+    #system_locale = Locale.getlocale
+    #wanted_system_locale = 
+    #  if locale == 'en'
+    #    'C'
+    #  else
+    #    '%s.utf8' % locale
+    #  end
+
+    #ok("System locale should be #{wanted_system_locale}, but was #{system_locale}") { wanted_system_locale == system_locale }
+  end
+  
 end
--
libgit2 0.21.2