diff --git a/common/translation.cpp b/common/translation.cpp
index 0b3d1237a9b..5598cbcf8cd 100644
--- a/common/translation.cpp
+++ b/common/translation.cpp
@@ -52,17 +52,12 @@ TranslationManager::TranslationManager() {
 	const char *locale = setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
 
 	// Detect the language from the locale
-	if (!locale) {
-		strcpy(_syslang, "C");
-	} else {
-		int len = strlen(locale);
-		if (len > 5)
-			len = 5;
-		strncpy(_syslang, locale, len);
-		_syslang[len] = 0;
-	}
+	if (!locale)
+		_syslang = "C";
+	else
+		_syslang = locale;
 #else // DETECTLANG
-	strcpy(_syslang, "C");
+	_syslang = "C";
 #endif // DETECTLANG
 
 #ifdef TERMCONV
@@ -84,7 +79,7 @@ TranslationManager::~TranslationManager() {
 
 void TranslationManager::setLanguage(const char *lang) {
 	if (*lang == '\0')
-		po2c_setlang(_syslang);
+		po2c_setlang(_syslang.c_str());
 	else
 		po2c_setlang(lang);
 
diff --git a/common/translation.h b/common/translation.h
index 7be21df60fa..a844c1f4387 100644
--- a/common/translation.h
+++ b/common/translation.h
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ typedef Array<TLanguage> TLangArray;
  */
 class TranslationManager : public Singleton<TranslationManager> {
 private:
-	char _syslang[6];
+	Common::String _syslang;
 
 #ifdef TERMCONV
 	iconv_t _conversion;