diff --git a/app/controllers/application.rb b/app/controllers/application.rb
index db163f2..673d5ba 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application.rb
@@ -64,10 +64,15 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
 
   def force_language
     lang = params[:lang]
-    unless lang.blank?
+    if lang.blank?
+      # no language forced, get language from cookie
+      lang = cookies[:lang] || Noosfero.default_locale
+    else
+      # save forced language in the cookie
       cookies[:lang] = lang
-      GetText.locale = lang
     end
+
+    set_locale lang unless lang.blank?
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/test/integration/locale_setting_test.rb b/test/integration/locale_setting_test.rb
index ecdd0b1..2f6e885 100644
--- a/test/integration/locale_setting_test.rb
+++ b/test/integration/locale_setting_test.rb
@@ -7,6 +7,13 @@ class LocaleSettingTest < ActionController::IntegrationTest
     GetText.locale = nil
   end
 
+  should 'be able to set a default language' do
+    Noosfero.expects(:default_locale).returns('pt_BR').at_least_once
+
+    get '/'
+    assert_equal 'pt_BR', GetText.locale.to_s
+  end
+
   should 'detect locale from the browser' do
 
     # user has pt_BR
--
libgit2 0.21.2