diff --git a/web/src/index.html b/web/src/index.html
index adefba0696..ea6f1c99d2 100644
--- a/web/src/index.html
+++ b/web/src/index.html
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     <!--
       The Cockpit server returns "po.<LANG>.js" content for the "po.js" request,
       the requested language is obtained from the "CockpitLang" cookie sent in
-      the HTTP header. For missing translations it returns an empty string.
+      the HTTP header. For missing translation files it returns an empty script.
     -->
     <script src="po.js" defer></script>
   </body>
diff --git a/web/src/lib/webpack-po-handler.js b/web/src/lib/webpack-po-handler.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e14a1b59f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/lib/webpack-po-handler.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+const fs = require("fs");
+const path = require("path");
+
+// Cockpit internally returns the "po.<LANG>.js" file content for the
+// "po.js" request, reimplement it with a simple redirection (the JS file
+// only exists in the webpack memory, we cannot read it from disk)
+//
+// This function processes the webpack HTTP request.
+//
+// @param req HTTP request
+// @param res HTTP response
+module.exports = function (req, res) {
+  // the regexp was taken from the original Cockpit code :-)
+  const language = req.headers.cookie.replace(/(?:(?:^|.*;\s*)CockpitLang\s*=\s*([^;]*).*$)|^.*$/, "$1") || "";
+  // the cookie uses "pt-br" format while the PO file is "pt_BR" :-/
+  let [lang, country] = language.split("-");
+  country = country.toUpperCase();
+
+  // first check the full locale ("pt_BR") PO file
+  if (fs.existsSync(path.join(__dirname, "..", "..", "po", `${lang}_${country}.po`))) {
+    res.redirect(`/po.${lang}_${country}.js`);
+  } else {
+    // then check the language part only ("pt") PO file
+    if (fs.existsSync(path.join(__dirname, "..", "..", "po", `${lang}.po`))) {
+      res.redirect(`/po.${lang}.js`);
+    } else {
+      if (lang !== "en") console.log(`translation "${language}" not found`);
+      // Cockpit returns an empty script if the translation file is missing
+      res.set("Content-Type", "application/javascript");
+      res.send("");
+    }
+  }
+};
diff --git a/web/webpack.config.js b/web/webpack.config.js
index 249192383d..ae3c3271e0 100644
--- a/web/webpack.config.js
+++ b/web/webpack.config.js
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ const StylelintPlugin = require('stylelint-webpack-plugin');
 const TsconfigPathsPlugin = require('tsconfig-paths-webpack-plugin');
 const ReactRefreshWebpackPlugin = require('@pmmmwh/react-refresh-webpack-plugin');
 const webpack = require('webpack');
+const po_handler = require("./src/lib/webpack-po-handler");
 
 /* A standard nodejs and webpack pattern */
 const production = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production';
@@ -114,6 +115,12 @@ module.exports = {
     // hot replacement does not support wss:// transport when running over https://,
     // as a workaround use sockjs (which uses standard https:// protocol)
     webSocketServer: "sockjs",
+
+    // Cockpit handles "po.js" requests specially
+    setupMiddlewares: (middlewares, devServer) => {
+      devServer.app.get("/po.js", (req, res) => po_handler(req, res));
+      return middlewares;
+    }
   },
   devtool: "source-map",
   stats: "errors-warnings",