diff --git a/test/read_tags.c b/test/read_tags.c
index e7958abdb..db2221c13 100644
--- a/test/read_tags.c
+++ b/test/read_tags.c
@@ -24,12 +24,17 @@
 #include "pcm_volume.h"
 #include "tag_ape.h"
 #include "tag_id3.h"
+#include "config.h"
 
 #include <glib.h>
 
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
+#ifdef HAVE_LOCALE_H
+#include <locale.h>
+#endif
+
 /**
  * No-op dummy.
  */
@@ -119,6 +124,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	struct tag *tag;
 	bool empty;
 
+#ifdef HAVE_LOCALE_H
+	/* initialize locale */
+	setlocale(LC_CTYPE,"");
+#endif
+
 	if (argc != 3) {
 		g_printerr("Usage: read_tags DECODER FILE\n");
 		return 1;