diff --git a/src/pylorax/__init__.py b/src/pylorax/__init__.py
index 8ae3077b..203191e2 100644
--- a/src/pylorax/__init__.py
+++ b/src/pylorax/__init__.py
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import sys
 import os
 import ConfigParser
 import tempfile
+import locale
 
 from base import BaseLoraxClass, DataHolder
 import output
@@ -67,6 +68,9 @@ class Lorax(BaseLoraxClass):
         BaseLoraxClass.__init__(self)
         self._configured = False
 
+        # set locale to C
+        locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'C')
+
     def configure(self, conf_file="/etc/lorax/lorax.conf"):
         self.conf = ConfigParser.SafeConfigParser()