diff --git a/contrib/android/make_apk b/contrib/android/make_apk
index 345222a0c..c3d70b98b 100755
--- a/contrib/android/make_apk
+++ b/contrib/android/make_apk
@@ -25,17 +25,10 @@ popd
 # update locale
 info "preparing electrum-locale."
 (
-    cd "$CONTRIB"/deterministic-build/electrum-locale
-    if ! which msgfmt > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-        fail "Please install gettext"
-    fi
+    LOCALE="$PROJECT_ROOT/electrum/locale/"
     # we want the binary to have only compiled (.mo) locale files; not source (.po) files
-    rm -rf "$PROJECT_ROOT/electrum/locale/"
-    for i in ./locale/*; do
-        dir="$PROJECT_ROOT/electrum/$i/LC_MESSAGES"
-        mkdir -p $dir
-        msgfmt --output-file="$dir/electrum.mo" "$i/electrum.po" || true
-    done
+    rm -rf "$LOCALE"
+    "$CONTRIB/build_locale.sh" "$CONTRIB/deterministic-build/electrum-locale/locale/" "$LOCALE"
 )
 
 pushd "$CONTRIB_ANDROID"
diff --git a/contrib/build-linux/appimage/make_appimage.sh b/contrib/build-linux/appimage/make_appimage.sh
index be86bc26b..0fcc5329d 100755
--- a/contrib/build-linux/appimage/make_appimage.sh
+++ b/contrib/build-linux/appimage/make_appimage.sh
@@ -93,18 +93,10 @@ info "preparing electrum-locale."
     cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
     git submodule update --init
 
-    pushd "$CONTRIB"/deterministic-build/electrum-locale
-    if ! which msgfmt > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-        fail "Please install gettext"
-    fi
+    LOCALE="$PROJECT_ROOT/electrum/locale/"
     # we want the binary to have only compiled (.mo) locale files; not source (.po) files
-    rm -rf "$PROJECT_ROOT/electrum/locale/"
-    for i in ./locale/*; do
-        dir="$PROJECT_ROOT/electrum/$i/LC_MESSAGES"
-        mkdir -p $dir
-        msgfmt --output-file="$dir/electrum.mo" "$i/electrum.po" || true
-    done
-    popd
+    rm -rf "$LOCALE"
+    "$CONTRIB/build_locale.sh" "$CONTRIB/deterministic-build/electrum-locale/locale/" "$LOCALE"
 )
 
 
diff --git a/contrib/build-linux/sdist/make_sdist.sh b/contrib/build-linux/sdist/make_sdist.sh
index 03b872910..ca004fcac 100755
--- a/contrib/build-linux/sdist/make_sdist.sh
+++ b/contrib/build-linux/sdist/make_sdist.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ git submodule update --init
     rm -rf "$LOCALE"
     cp -r "$CONTRIB/deterministic-build/electrum-locale/locale/" "$LOCALE/"
     if ([ "$OMIT_UNCLEAN_FILES" != 1 ]); then
-      "$CONTRIB/build_locale.sh" "$LOCALE"
+        "$CONTRIB/build_locale.sh" "$LOCALE" "$LOCALE"
     fi
 )
 
diff --git a/contrib/build-wine/build-electrum-git.sh b/contrib/build-wine/build-electrum-git.sh
index b4e64115a..4b69669c4 100755
--- a/contrib/build-wine/build-electrum-git.sh
+++ b/contrib/build-wine/build-electrum-git.sh
@@ -18,18 +18,10 @@ info "Last commit: $VERSION"
 # Load electrum-locale for this release
 git submodule update --init
 
-pushd ./contrib/deterministic-build/electrum-locale
-if ! which msgfmt > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-    fail "Please install gettext"
-fi
+LOCALE="$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/electrum/electrum/locale/"
 # we want the binary to have only compiled (.mo) locale files; not source (.po) files
-rm -rf "$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/electrum/electrum/locale/"
-for i in ./locale/*; do
-    dir="$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/electrum/electrum/$i/LC_MESSAGES"
-    mkdir -p $dir
-    msgfmt --output-file="$dir/electrum.mo" "$i/electrum.po" || true
-done
-popd
+rm -rf "$LOCALE"
+"$CONTRIB/build_locale.sh" "$CONTRIB/deterministic-build/electrum-locale/locale/" "$LOCALE"
 
 find -exec touch -h -d '2000-11-11T11:11:11+00:00' {} +
 popd
diff --git a/contrib/build_locale.sh b/contrib/build_locale.sh
index d3157cafc..425066754 100755
--- a/contrib/build_locale.sh
+++ b/contrib/build_locale.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-if [ ! -d "$1" ]; then
-    echo "usage: $0 path/to/locale"
+set -e
+
+if [[ ! -d "$1" || -z "$2" ]]; then
+    echo "usage: $0 locale_source_dir locale_dest_dir"
+    echo "       The dirs can match, to build in place."
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -10,7 +13,11 @@ if ! which msgfmt > /dev/null 2>&1; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-for i in "$1/"*; do
-  mkdir -p "$i/LC_MESSAGES"
-  (msgfmt --output-file="$i/LC_MESSAGES/electrum.mo" "$i/electrum.po" || true)
+cd "$1"
+mkdir -p "$2"
+
+for i in *; do
+    dir="$2/$i/LC_MESSAGES"
+    mkdir -p "$dir"
+    (msgfmt --output-file="$dir/electrum.mo" "$i/electrum.po" || true)
 done
diff --git a/contrib/osx/make_osx b/contrib/osx/make_osx
index 60e7c5cf6..7651c9107 100755
--- a/contrib/osx/make_osx
+++ b/contrib/osx/make_osx
@@ -175,14 +175,10 @@ info "generating locale"
         brew install gettext
         brew link --force gettext
     fi
-    cd "$CONTRIB"/deterministic-build/electrum-locale
+    LOCALE="$PROJECT_ROOT/electrum/locale/"
     # we want the binary to have only compiled (.mo) locale files; not source (.po) files
-    rm -rf "$PROJECT_ROOT/electrum/locale/"
-    for i in ./locale/*; do
-        dir="$PROJECT_ROOT/electrum/$i/LC_MESSAGES"
-        mkdir -p "$dir"
-        msgfmt --output-file="$dir/electrum.mo" "$i/electrum.po" || true
-    done
+    rm -rf "$LOCALE"
+    "$CONTRIB/build_locale.sh" "$CONTRIB/deterministic-build/electrum-locale/locale/" "$LOCALE"
 ) || fail "failed generating locale"