diff --git a/tmux.c b/tmux.c
index 9c32fa0a..07aeeaeb 100644
--- a/tmux.c
+++ b/tmux.c
@@ -196,7 +196,8 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	int					 opt, flags, keys;
 	const struct options_table_entry	*oe;
 
-	if (setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "en_US.UTF-8") == NULL) {
+	if (setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "en_US.UTF-8") == NULL &&
+	    setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "C.UTF-8") == NULL) {
 		if (setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "") == NULL)
 			errx(1, "invalid LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE or LANG");
 		s = nl_langinfo(CODESET);