diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/ansible_freeipa_module.py b/plugins/module_utils/ansible_freeipa_module.py
index 16e7343f..5ac52c73 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/ansible_freeipa_module.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/ansible_freeipa_module.py
@@ -93,6 +93,9 @@ except ImportError:
 if six.PY3:
     unicode = str
 
+# ansible-freeipa requires locale to be C, IPA requires utf-8.
+os.environ["LANGUAGE"] = "C"
+
 
 def valid_creds(module, principal):  # noqa
     """Get valid credentials matching the princial, try GSSAPI first."""
diff --git a/tests/environment/test_locale.yml b/tests/environment/test_locale.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..27d03de7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/environment/test_locale.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+---
+- name: Test language variations
+  hosts: ipaserver
+
+  tasks:
+  - name: Ensure a host is not present, with language set to "de_DE".
+    ipahost:
+      ipaadmin_password: SomeADMINpassword
+      name: nonexistent
+      state: absent
+    environment:
+      LANGUAGE: "de_DE"
+    register: result
+    failed_when: result.failed or result.changed
+
+  - name: Ensure a host is not present, with language set to "C".
+    ipahost:
+      ipaadmin_password: SomeADMINpassword
+      name: nonexistent
+      state: absent
+    environment:
+      LANGUAGE: "C"
+    register: result
+    failed_when: result.failed or result.changed
+
+  - name: Ensure a host is not present, using controller language.
+    ipahost:
+      ipaadmin_password: SomeADMINpassword
+      name: nonexistent
+      state: absent
+    register: result
+    failed_when: result.failed or result.changed