diff --git a/bin/keystone-all b/bin/keystone-all
index b38e552b50..7e6711b5df 100755
--- a/bin/keystone-all
+++ b/bin/keystone-all
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import pbr.version
 from keystone.common import utils
 from keystone.common import wsgi_server
 from keystone import config
+from keystone.openstack.common import gettextutils
 from keystone.openstack.common import importutils
 
 
@@ -70,6 +71,8 @@ def serve(*servers):
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
+    gettextutils.install('keystone')
+
     dev_conf = os.path.join(possible_topdir,
                             'etc',
                             'keystone.conf')
diff --git a/bin/keystone-manage b/bin/keystone-manage
index b440ad15a6..89ada5bded 100755
--- a/bin/keystone-manage
+++ b/bin/keystone-manage
@@ -13,11 +13,13 @@ if os.path.exists(os.path.join(possible_topdir,
                                '__init__.py')):
     sys.path.insert(0, possible_topdir)
 
-
 from keystone import cli
+from keystone.openstack.common import gettextutils
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
+    gettextutils.install('keystone')
+
     dev_conf = os.path.join(possible_topdir,
                             'etc',
                             'keystone.conf')
diff --git a/keystone/common/config.py b/keystone/common/config.py
index ae3716d9a2..e2f5055a75 100644
--- a/keystone/common/config.py
+++ b/keystone/common/config.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 # License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
 
-import gettext
 import os
 import sys
 
@@ -23,8 +22,6 @@
 from keystone.common import logging
 
 
-gettext.install('keystone', unicode=1)
-
 _DEFAULT_LOG_FORMAT = "%(asctime)s %(levelname)8s [%(name)s] %(message)s"
 _DEFAULT_LOG_DATE_FORMAT = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"
 _DEFAULT_AUTH_METHODS = ['password', 'token']
diff --git a/keystone/openstack/common/gettextutils.py b/keystone/openstack/common/gettextutils.py
index d52309e62a..55ba338725 100644
--- a/keystone/openstack/common/gettextutils.py
+++ b/keystone/openstack/common/gettextutils.py
@@ -20,14 +20,31 @@
 
 Usual usage in an openstack.common module:
 
-    from nova.openstack.common.gettextutils import _
+    from keystone.openstack.common.gettextutils import _
 """
 
 import gettext
+import os
 
-
-t = gettext.translation('openstack-common', 'locale', fallback=True)
+_localedir = os.environ.get('keystone'.upper() + '_LOCALEDIR')
+_t = gettext.translation('keystone', localedir=_localedir, fallback=True)
 
 
 def _(msg):
-    return t.ugettext(msg)
+    return _t.ugettext(msg)
+
+
+def install(domain):
+    """Install a _() function using the given translation domain.
+
+    Given a translation domain, install a _() function using gettext's
+    install() function.
+
+    The main difference from gettext.install() is that we allow
+    overriding the default localedir (e.g. /usr/share/locale) using
+    a translation-domain-specific environment variable (e.g.
+    NOVA_LOCALEDIR).
+    """
+    gettext.install(domain,
+                    localedir=os.environ.get(domain.upper() + '_LOCALEDIR'),
+                    unicode=True)
diff --git a/keystone/test.py b/keystone/test.py
index 82ab99a6b5..3cfbd01ccd 100644
--- a/keystone/test.py
+++ b/keystone/test.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import sys
 import time
 
+import gettext
 import mox
 import nose.exc
 from paste import deploy
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@
 wsgi_server.monkey_patch_eventlet()
 
 
+gettext.install('keystone', unicode=1)
+
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 ROOTDIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(os.curdir))
 VENDOR = os.path.join(ROOTDIR, 'vendor')