diff --git a/ckan/lib/helpers.py b/ckan/lib/helpers.py
index e1a608d0165..c52317c6c1f 100644
--- a/ckan/lib/helpers.py
+++ b/ckan/lib/helpers.py
@@ -22,10 +22,9 @@
 from routes import url_for as _routes_default_url_for
 from alphabet_paginate import AlphaPage
 from lxml.html import fromstring
-from i18n import get_locales
-# get_available_locales not used here but passed to template context
-from i18n import get_available_locales
+import i18n
 
+get_available_locales = i18n.get_available_locales
 
 try:
     from collections import OrderedDict # from python 2.7
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ def _add_i18n_to_url(url_to_amend, **kw):
 
     default_locale = False
     locale = kw.pop('locale', None)
-    allowed_locales = ['default'] + get_locales()
+    allowed_locales = ['default'] + i18n.get_locales()
     if locale and locale not in allowed_locales:
         locale = None
     if locale: