diff --git a/sugar/activity/Makefile.am b/sugar/activity/Makefile.am
index d11a3474..885f62e3 100644
--- a/sugar/activity/Makefile.am
+++ b/sugar/activity/Makefile.am
@@ -8,4 +8,5 @@ sugar_PYTHON =				\
 	activityservice.py		\
 	bundle.py			\
 	bundlebuilder.py		\
-	bundleregistry.py
+	bundleregistry.py		\
+	locale.py
diff --git a/sugar/activity/locale.py b/sugar/activity/locale.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..40080a41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sugar/activity/locale.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import gettext
+import os
+import logging
+
+from sugar.activity import activity
+
+activity_path = activity.get_bundle_path()
+service_name = os.environ['SUGAR_BUNDLE_SERVICE_NAME']
+gettext.bindtextdomain(service_name, os.path.join(activity_path, "locale"))
+gettext.textdomain(service_name)
+_ = gettext.gettext