diff --git a/doc/conf.py b/doc/conf.py
index 3bf62cee4e..af9026a1bb 100644
--- a/doc/conf.py
+++ b/doc/conf.py
@@ -113,7 +113,11 @@
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
-# language = None
+# language = "en"
+# a lot of issues with importing esmvalcore modules due to
+# "incorrect" locale settings' this looks like a fix
+import locale
+locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'C')
 
 # There are two options for replacing |today|: either, you set today to some
 # non-false value, then it is used: