diff --git a/cmake/Modules/FindGettextLib.cmake b/cmake/Modules/FindGettextLib.cmake
index 1c36f8c6e..a215f3f8d 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/FindGettextLib.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/FindGettextLib.cmake
@@ -16,21 +16,6 @@ FIND_PROGRAM(GETTEXT_MSGFMT
 	PATHS "${CUSTOM_GETTEXT_PATH}/bin"
 	DOC "path to msgfmt")
 
-FIND_PROGRAM(GETTEXT_MSGMERGE
-	NAMES msgmerge
-	PATHS "${CUSTOM_GETTEXT_PATH}/bin"
-	DOC "path to msgmerge")
-
-FIND_PROGRAM(GETTEXT_MSGEN
-	NAMES msgen
-	PATHS "${CUSTOM_GETTEXT_PATH}/bin"
-	DOC "path to msgen")
-
-FIND_PROGRAM(GETTEXT_EXTRACT
-	NAMES xgettext
-	PATHS "${CUSTOM_GETTEXT_PATH}/bin"
-	DOC "path to xgettext")
-
 # modern Linux, as well as Mac, seem to not need require special linking
 # they do not because gettext is part of glibc
 # TODO check the requirements on other BSDs and older Linux
@@ -73,6 +58,7 @@ IF(GETTEXT_FOUND)
 	SET(GETTEXT_MO_BUILD_PATH ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/locale/<locale>/LC_MESSAGES)
 	SET(GETTEXT_MO_DEST_PATH locale/<locale>/LC_MESSAGES)
 	FILE(GLOB GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES RELATIVE ${GETTEXT_PO_PATH} "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/*")
+	LIST(REMOVE_ITEM GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES minetest.pot)
 	MACRO(SET_MO_PATHS _buildvar _destvar _locale)
 		STRING(REPLACE "<locale>" ${_locale} ${_buildvar} ${GETTEXT_MO_BUILD_PATH})
 		STRING(REPLACE "<locale>" ${_locale} ${_destvar} ${GETTEXT_MO_DEST_PATH})
diff --git a/po/en/minetest.pot b/po/minetest.pot
similarity index 97%
rename from po/en/minetest.pot
rename to po/minetest.pot
index e242c494b..7b95d212e 100644
--- a/po/en/minetest.pot
+++ b/po/minetest.pot
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 "Project-Id-Version: minetest\n"
 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
-"POT-Creation-Date: 2011-07-22 11:02+0200\n"
+"POT-Creation-Date: 2011-07-24 10:16+0200\n"
 "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n"
 "Last-Translator: FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n"
 "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\n"
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 5554ec448..fcdb3ccbc 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,11 +5,15 @@ if(RUN_IN_PLACE)
 	add_definitions ( -DRUN_IN_PLACE )
 endif(RUN_IN_PLACE)
 
-OPTION(USE_GETTEXT "Use GetText for internationalization" ON)
+# user-visible option to enable/disable gettext usage
+OPTION(ENABLE_GETTEXT "Use GetText for internationalization" ON)
+
+# this is only set to 1 if gettext is enabled _and_ available
+set(USE_GETTEXT 0)
 
 find_package(GettextLib)
 
-if(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
+if(GETTEXT_FOUND AND ENABLE_GETTEXT)
 	message(STATUS "gettext include path: ${GETTEXT_INCLUDE_DIR}")
 	message(STATUS "gettext msgfmt path: ${GETTEXT_MSGFMT}")
 	if(WIN32)
@@ -17,12 +21,13 @@ if(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
 		message(STATUS "gettext dll: ${GETTEXT_DLL}")
 		message(STATUS "gettext iconv dll: ${GETTEXT_ICONV_DLL}")
 	endif()
+	set(USE_GETTEXT 1)
 	message(STATUS "GetText enabled; locales found: ${GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES}")
-elseif(GETTEXT_FOUND AND NOT USE_GETTEXT)
+elseif(GETTEXT_FOUND AND NOT ENABLE_GETTEXT)
 	MESSAGE(STATUS "GetText found but disabled;")
-else(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
+else(GETTEXT_FOUND AND ENABLE_GETTEXT)
 	message(STATUS "GetText disabled")
-endif(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
+endif(GETTEXT_FOUND AND ENABLE_GETTEXT)
 
 if(NOT MSVC)
 	set(USE_GPROF 0 CACHE BOOL "Use -pg flag for g++")
@@ -265,7 +270,7 @@ if(BUILD_CLIENT)
 
 	install(FILES ${images} DESTINATION ${DATADIR})
 
-	if(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
+	if(USE_GETTEXT)
 		foreach(LOCALE ${GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES})
 			set_mo_paths(MO_BUILD_PATH MO_DEST_PATH ${LOCALE})
 			set(MO_BUILD_PATH "${MO_BUILD_PATH}/${PROJECT_NAME}.mo")
@@ -280,14 +285,14 @@ if(BUILD_CLIENT)
 		if(DEFINED ZLIB_DLL)
 			install(FILES ${ZLIB_DLL} DESTINATION ${BINDIR})
 		endif()
-		if(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
+		if(USE_GETTEXT)
 			if(DEFINED GETTEXT_DLL)
 				install(FILES ${GETTEXT_DLL} DESTINATION ${BINDIR})
 			endif()
 			if(DEFINED GETTEXT_ICONV_DLL)
 				install(FILES ${GETTEXT_ICONV_DLL} DESTINATION ${BINDIR})
 			endif()
-		endif(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
+		endif(USE_GETTEXT)
 	endif()
 endif(BUILD_CLIENT)
 
@@ -295,56 +300,31 @@ if(BUILD_SERVER)
 	install(TARGETS ${PROJECT_NAME}server DESTINATION ${BINDIR})
 endif(BUILD_SERVER)
 
-if (GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
-	add_custom_command(OUTPUT "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/en"
-		COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E make_directory "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/en"
-		COMMENT "po-update [en]: creating translation template base directory")
-	set(POT_FILE "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/en/minetest.pot")
-	file(GLOB GETTEXT_POT_DEPS *.cpp *.h)
-	file(GLOB GETTEXT_POT_DEPS_REL RELATIVE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR} *.cpp *.h)
-	add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${POT_FILE}
-		COMMAND ${GETTEXT_EXTRACT} -F -n -o ${POT_FILE} ${GETTEXT_POT_DEPS_REL}
-		DEPENDS "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/en" ${GETTEXT_POT_DEPS}
-		WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
-		COMMENT "po-update [en]: updating translation template")
-
-	set(PO_FILES)
+if (USE_GETTEXT)
 	set(MO_FILES)
 
 	foreach(LOCALE ${GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES})
-		# skip the 'en' locale which is treated separately
-		if (NOT LOCALE STREQUAL "en")
-			set(PO_FILE_PATH "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/${LOCALE}/minetest.po")
-			add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${PO_FILE_PATH}
-				COMMAND ${GETTEXT_MSGMERGE} -F -U ${PO_FILE_PATH} ${POT_FILE}
-				DEPENDS ${POT_FILE}
-				WORKING_DIRECTORY "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/${LOCALE}"
-				COMMENT "po-update [${LOCALE}]: updating strings")
+		set(PO_FILE_PATH "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/${LOCALE}/minetest.po")
+		set_mo_paths(MO_BUILD_PATH MO_DEST_PATH ${LOCALE})
+		set(MO_FILE_PATH "${MO_BUILD_PATH}/${PROJECT_NAME}.mo")
 
+		add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${MO_BUILD_PATH}
+			COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E make_directory ${MO_BUILD_PATH}
+			COMMENT "mo-update [${LOCALE}]: Creating locale directory.")
 
-			set_mo_paths(MO_BUILD_PATH MO_DEST_PATH ${LOCALE})
-			add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${MO_BUILD_PATH}
-				COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E make_directory ${MO_BUILD_PATH}
-				COMMENT "mo-update [${LOCALE}]: Creating locale directory.")
+		add_custom_command(
+			OUTPUT ${MO_FILE_PATH}
+			COMMAND ${GETTEXT_MSGFMT} -o ${MO_FILE_PATH} ${PO_FILE_PATH}
+			DEPENDS ${MO_BUILD_PATH} ${PO_FILE_PATH}
+			WORKING_DIRECTORY "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/${LOCALE}"
+			COMMENT "mo-update [${LOCALE}]: Creating mo file."
+			)
 
-			set(MO_FILE_PATH "${MO_BUILD_PATH}/minetest.mo")
-
-			add_custom_command(
-				OUTPUT ${MO_FILE_PATH}
-				COMMAND ${GETTEXT_MSGFMT} -o ${MO_FILE_PATH} ${PO_FILE_PATH}
-				DEPENDS ${MO_BUILD_PATH} ${PO_FILE_PATH}
-				WORKING_DIRECTORY "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/${LOCALE}"
-				COMMENT "mo-update [${LOCALE}]: Creating mo file."
-				)
-
-			set(MO_FILES ${MO_FILES} ${MO_FILE_PATH})
-			set(PO_FILES ${PO_FILES} ${PO_FILE_PATH})
-		endif(NOT LOCALE STREQUAL "en")
+		set(MO_FILES ${MO_FILES} ${MO_FILE_PATH})
 	endforeach(LOCALE ${GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES})
 
 	add_custom_target(translations ALL COMMENT "mo update" DEPENDS ${MO_FILES})
-	add_custom_target(updatepo COMMENT "po update" DEPENDS ${PO_FILES})
-endif(GETTEXT_FOUND AND USE_GETTEXT)
+endif(USE_GETTEXT)
 
 # Subdirectories
 
diff --git a/src/cmake_config.h.in b/src/cmake_config.h.in
index 5e375191f..6a8f93bac 100644
--- a/src/cmake_config.h.in
+++ b/src/cmake_config.h.in
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #ifndef CMAKE_CONFIG_H
 #define CMAKE_CONFIG_H
 
+#define PROJECT_NAME "@PROJECT_NAME@"
 #define INSTALL_PREFIX "@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@"
 #define VERSION_STRING "@VERSION_STRING@"
 #ifdef NDEBUG
@@ -10,7 +11,7 @@
 #else
 	#define BUILD_TYPE "Debug"
 #endif
-#define BUILD_INFO "VER="VERSION_STRING" RUN_IN_PLACE=@RUN_IN_PLACE@ INSTALL_PREFIX=@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@ BUILD_TYPE="BUILD_TYPE
+#define BUILD_INFO "VER="VERSION_STRING" RUN_IN_PLACE=@RUN_IN_PLACE@ USE_GETTEXT=@USE_GETTEXT@ INSTALL_PREFIX=@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@ BUILD_TYPE="BUILD_TYPE
 
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/config.h b/src/config.h
index b24cf6a69..54b89a060 100644
--- a/src/config.h
+++ b/src/config.h
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 #ifdef USE_CMAKE_CONFIG_H
 	#include "cmake_config.h"
 #else
+	#define PROJECT_NAME "minetest"
+
 	//#define INSTALL_PREFIX ""
 	#define VERSION_STRING "unknown"
 	#ifdef NDEBUG
@@ -21,8 +23,13 @@
 	#else
 		#define RUN_IN_PLACE_BOOLSTRING "0"
 	#endif
-	#define BUILD_INFO "NON-CMAKE RUN_IN_PLACE="RUN_IN_PLACE_BOOLSTRING" BUILD_TYPE="BUILD_TYPE
-#endif
-
+	#if USE_GETTEXT
+		#define USE_GETTEXT_BOOLSTRING "1"
+	#else
+		#define USE_GETTEXT_BOOLSTRING "0"
+	#endif
+
+	#define BUILD_INFO "NON-CMAKE RUN_IN_PLACE="RUN_IN_PLACE_BOOLSTRING" USE_GETTEXT="USE_GETTEXT_BOOLSTRING" BUILD_TYPE="BUILD_TYPE
+#endif
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/gettext.h b/src/gettext.h
index e74b4eb96..7c3a6ffab 100644
--- a/src/gettext.h
+++ b/src/gettext.h
@@ -1,21 +1,21 @@
-#ifdef GETTEXT_FOUND
-#ifdef USE_GETTEXT
+#if USE_GETTEXT
 #include <libintl.h>
 #else
 #define gettext(String) String
-#define bindtextdomain(domain, dir) /* */
-#define textdomain(domain) /* */
-#endif
-#else
-#define gettext(String) String
-#define bindtextdomain(domain, dir) /* */
-#define textdomain(domain) /* */
 #endif
 
 #define _(String) gettext(String)
 #define gettext_noop(String) String
 #define N_(String) gettext_noop (String)
 
+inline void init_gettext(const char *path) {
+#if USE_GETTEXT
+	setlocale(LC_MESSAGES, "");
+	bindtextdomain(PROJECT_NAME, path);
+	textdomain(PROJECT_NAME);
+#endif
+}
+
 inline wchar_t* chartowchar_t(const char *str)
 {
 	size_t l = strlen(str)+1;
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 11941a43f..bdfbc35f7 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -1132,11 +1132,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	// Create user data directory
 	fs::CreateDir(porting::path_userdata);
 
-#ifdef LC_MESSAGES
-	setlocale(LC_MESSAGES, "");
-	bindtextdomain("minetest", (porting::path_userdata+"/locale").c_str());
-	textdomain("minetest");
-#endif
+	init_gettext((porting::path_userdata+"/locale").c_str());
 
 	// Initialize debug streams
 #ifdef RUN_IN_PLACE
diff --git a/util/updatepo.sh b/util/updatepo.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..bcfa4c4de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/updatepo.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Update/create minetest po files
+
+# an auxiliary function to abort processing with an optional error
+# message
+abort() {
+	test -n "$1" && echo >&2 "$1"
+	exit 1
+}
+
+# The po/ directory is assumed to be parallel to the directory where
+# this script is. Relative paths are fine for us so we can just
+# use the following trick (works both for manual invocations and for
+# script found from PATH)
+scriptisin="$(dirname "$(which "$0")")"
+
+# The script is executed from the parent of po/, which is also the
+# parent of the script directory and of the src/ directory.
+# We go through $scriptisin so that it can be executed from whatever
+# directory and still work correctly
+cd "$scriptisin/.."
+
+test -e po || abort "po/ directory not found"
+test -d po || abort "po/ is not a directory!"
+
+# Get a list of the languages we have to update/create
+
+cd po || abort "couldn't change directory to po!"
+
+# This assumes that we won't have dirnames with space, which is
+# the case for language codes, which are the only subdirs we expect to
+# find in po/ anyway. If you put anything else there, you need to suffer
+# the consequences of your actions, so we don't do sanity checks
+langs=""
+
+for lang in * ; do
+	if test ! -d $lang; then
+		continue
+	fi
+	langs="$langs $lang"
+done
+
+# go back
+cd ..
+
+# First thing first, update the .pot template. We place it in the po/
+# directory at the top level. You a recent enough xgettext that supports
+# --package-name
+potfile=po/minetest.pot
+xgettext --package-name=minetest -F -n -o $potfile src/*.cpp src/*.h
+
+# Now iterate on all languages and create the po file if missing, or update it
+# if it exists already
+for lang in $langs ; do # note the missing quotes around $langs
+	pofile=po/$lang/minetest.po
+	if test -e $pofile; then
+		echo "[$lang]: updating strings"
+		msgmerge -F -U $pofile $potfile
+	else
+		# This will ask for the translator identity
+		echo "[$lang]: NEW strings"
+		msginit -l $lang -o $pofile -i $potfile
+	fi
+done