diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/index.html b/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/index.html
index 626446a2c05..819e656da1f 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/index.html
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/index.html
@@ -164,7 +164,17 @@
 			// In the bundled version the nls plugin is packaged with the loader so the NLS Plugins
 			// loads as soon as the loader loads. To be able to have pseudo translation
 			createScript(rootUrl + '/vs/loader.js', function() {
-				var nlsConfig = getNlsPluginConfiguration(configuration);
+				var nlsConfig;
+				try {
+					var config = process.env['VSCODE_NLS_CONFIG'];
+					if (config) {
+						nlsConfig = JSON.parse(config);
+					}
+				} catch (e) {
+				}
+				if (!nlsConfig) {
+					nlsConfig = getNlsPluginConfiguration(configuration);
+				}
 				require.config({
 					baseUrl: rootUrl,
 					'vs/nls': nlsConfig,
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/main.ts b/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/main.ts
index a6829b8d36e..3cb5f3d1049 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/main.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/main.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,15 @@ export function startup(environment: IMainEnvironment, globalSettings: IGlobalSe
 	};
 
 	// Inherit navigator language
-	environment.language = navigator.language;
+	let language = navigator.language;
+	try {
+		var config = process.env['VSCODE_NLS_CONFIG'];
+		if (config) {
+			language = JSON.parse(config).locale;
+		}
+	} catch (e) {
+	}
+	environment.language = language;
 
 	// Shell Options
 	let filesToOpen = environment.filesToOpen && environment.filesToOpen.length ? toInputs(environment.filesToOpen) : null;