diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/conf/hadoop-env.sh b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/conf/hadoop-env.sh
index f4625f5999b..01559e1fd77 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/conf/hadoop-env.sh
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/conf/hadoop-env.sh
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@
 # variable is REQUIRED on ALL platforms except OS X!
 # export JAVA_HOME=
 
+# The language environment in which Hadoop runs. Use the English
+# environment to ensure that logs are printed as expected.
+export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
+
 # Location of Hadoop.  By default, Hadoop will attempt to determine
 # this location based upon its execution path.
 # export HADOOP_HOME=