diff --git a/searx/settings.yml b/searx/settings.yml
index 49c0baca..9be8bc50 100644
--- a/searx/settings.yml
+++ b/searx/settings.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ server:
     https_rewrite : True # Force rewrite result urls. See searx/https_rewrite.py
     useragent_suffix : "" # suffix of searx_useragent, could contain informations like an email address to the administrator
     image_proxy : False # Proxying image results through searx
+    default_locale : "" # Default interface locale - leave blank to detect from browser information
 
 engines:
   - name : wikipedia
diff --git a/searx/webapp.py b/searx/webapp.py
index 072baa52..41bad5ea 100644
--- a/searx/webapp.py
+++ b/searx/webapp.py
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ cookie_max_age = 60 * 60 * 24 * 365 * 23  # 23 years
 def get_locale():
     locale = request.accept_languages.best_match(settings['locales'].keys())
 
+    if settings['server'].get('default_locale'):
+        locale = settings['server']['default_locale']
+
     if request.cookies.get('locale', '') in settings['locales']:
         locale = request.cookies.get('locale', '')