diff --git a/wp-config-sample.php b/wp-config-sample.php
index bcccd20ebd..7efe89f135 100644
--- a/wp-config-sample.php
+++ b/wp-config-sample.php
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@ define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');     // 99% chance you won't need to change this
 
 $table_prefix  = 'wp_';   // example: 'wp_' or 'b2' or 'mylogin_'
 
+// Change this to localize WordPress.  A corresponding MO file for the
+// chosen language must be installed to wp-includes/languages.
+// For example, install de.mo to wp-includes/languages and set WPLANG to 'de'
+// to enable German lanuage support.
+define ('WPLANG', '');
+
 /* Stop editing */
 
 $server = DB_HOST;
@@ -23,4 +29,4 @@ define('ABSPATH', dirname(__FILE__).'/');
 
 // Get everything else
 require_once(ABSPATH.'wp-settings.php');
-?>
\ No newline at end of file
+?>
diff --git a/wp-includes/wp-l10n.php b/wp-includes/wp-l10n.php
index e3d689680e..0d27b989f0 100644
--- a/wp-includes/wp-l10n.php
+++ b/wp-includes/wp-l10n.php
@@ -1,8 +1,16 @@
 <?php
 $curpath = dirname(__FILE__).'/';
 
-// The locale is hard-coded here for now.
-$locale = 'en_US';
+$locale = '';
+
+// WPLANG is defined in wp-config.
+if (defined('WPLANG')) {
+    $locale = WPLANG;
+}
+
+if (empty($locale)) {
+    $locale = 'en_US';
+}
 
 $mofile = $curpath . "/languages/$locale.mo";