diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index d43e4133f..3aa645df9 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -689,6 +689,28 @@ if(BUILD_SERVER)
 	endif()
 endif(BUILD_SERVER)
 
+# Blacklisted locales that don't work.
+# see issue #4638
+set(GETTEXT_BLACKLISTED_LOCALES
+	be
+	he
+	ko
+	ky
+	zh_CN
+	zh_TW
+)
+
+option(APPLY_LOCALE_BLACKLIST "Use a blacklist to avoid broken locales" TRUE)
+
+if (GETTEXT_FOUND AND APPLY_LOCALE_BLACKLIST)
+	set(GETTEXT_USED_LOCALES "")
+	foreach(LOCALE ${GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES})
+		if (NOT ";${GETTEXT_BLACKLISTED_LOCALES};" MATCHES ";${LOCALE};")
+			list(APPEND GETTEXT_USED_LOCALES ${LOCALE})
+		endif()
+	endforeach()
+	message(STATUS "Locale blacklist applied; Locales used: ${GETTEXT_USED_LOCALES}")
+endif()
 
 # Set some optimizations and tweaks
 
@@ -807,7 +829,7 @@ if(BUILD_CLIENT)
 	endif()
 
 	if(USE_GETTEXT)
-		foreach(LOCALE ${GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES})
+		foreach(LOCALE ${GETTEXT_USED_LOCALES})
 			set_mo_paths(MO_BUILD_PATH MO_DEST_PATH ${LOCALE})
 			set(MO_BUILD_PATH "${MO_BUILD_PATH}/${PROJECT_NAME}.mo")
 			install(FILES ${MO_BUILD_PATH} DESTINATION ${MO_DEST_PATH})
@@ -836,7 +858,7 @@ endif()
 if (USE_GETTEXT)
 	set(MO_FILES)
 
-	foreach(LOCALE ${GETTEXT_AVAILABLE_LOCALES})
+	foreach(LOCALE ${GETTEXT_USED_LOCALES})
 		set(PO_FILE_PATH "${GETTEXT_PO_PATH}/${LOCALE}/${PROJECT_NAME}.po")
 		set_mo_paths(MO_BUILD_PATH MO_DEST_PATH ${LOCALE})
 		set(MO_FILE_PATH "${MO_BUILD_PATH}/${PROJECT_NAME}.mo")