diff --git a/bin/bitbake b/bin/bitbake
index 7cbf88f4..f869eb48 100755
--- a/bin/bitbake
+++ b/bin/bitbake
@@ -25,8 +25,7 @@ except RuntimeError as exc:
 from bb import cookerdata
 from bb.main import bitbake_main, BitBakeConfigParameters, BBMainException
 
-if sys.getfilesystemencoding() != "utf-8":
-    sys.exit("Please use a locale setting which supports UTF-8 (such as LANG=en_US.UTF-8).\nPython can't change the filesystem locale after loading so we need a UTF-8 when Python starts or things won't work.")
+bb.utils.check_system_locale()
 
 __version__ = "2.2.0"
 
diff --git a/bin/bitbake-server b/bin/bitbake-server
index 825e9d56..454a3919 100755
--- a/bin/bitbake-server
+++ b/bin/bitbake-server
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ warnings.simplefilter("default")
 import logging
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0])), 'lib'))
 
-if sys.getfilesystemencoding() != "utf-8":
-    sys.exit("Please use a locale setting which supports UTF-8 (such as LANG=en_US.UTF-8).\nPython can't change the filesystem locale after loading so we need a UTF-8 when Python starts or things won't work.")
+import bb
+
+bb.utils.check_system_locale()
 
 # Users shouldn't be running this code directly
 if len(sys.argv) != 11 or not sys.argv[1].startswith("decafbad"):
diff --git a/bin/bitbake-worker b/bin/bitbake-worker
index 3799b170..3cacdb0c 100755
--- a/bin/bitbake-worker
+++ b/bin/bitbake-worker
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ import subprocess
 from multiprocessing import Lock
 from threading import Thread
 
-if sys.getfilesystemencoding() != "utf-8":
-    sys.exit("Please use a locale setting which supports UTF-8 (such as LANG=en_US.UTF-8).\nPython can't change the filesystem locale after loading so we need a UTF-8 when Python starts or things won't work.")
+bb.utils.check_system_locale()
 
 # Users shouldn't be running this code directly
 if len(sys.argv) != 2 or not sys.argv[1].startswith("decafbad"):
diff --git a/lib/bb/utils.py b/lib/bb/utils.py
index f4da3563..0df522b3 100644
--- a/lib/bb/utils.py
+++ b/lib/bb/utils.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import errno
 import logging
 import bb
 import bb.msg
+import locale
 import multiprocessing
 import fcntl
 import importlib
@@ -608,6 +609,21 @@ def preserved_envvars():
     ]
     return v + preserved_envvars_exported()
 
+def check_system_locale():
+    """Make sure the required system locale are available and configured"""
+    default_locale = locale.getlocale(locale.LC_CTYPE)
+
+    try:
+        locale.setlocale(locale.LC_CTYPE, ("en_US", "UTF-8"))
+    except:
+        sys.exit("Please make sure locale 'en_US.UTF-8' is available on your system")
+    else:
+        locale.setlocale(locale.LC_CTYPE, default_locale)
+
+    if sys.getfilesystemencoding() != "utf-8":
+        sys.exit("Please use a locale setting which supports UTF-8 (such as LANG=en_US.UTF-8).\n"
+                 "Python can't change the filesystem locale after loading so we need a UTF-8 when Python starts or things won't work.")
+
 def filter_environment(good_vars):
     """
     Create a pristine environment for bitbake. This will remove variables that