diff --git a/lib/rack/contrib/locale.rb b/lib/rack/contrib/locale.rb
index 2a1fd91a..d324b17d 100644
--- a/lib/rack/contrib/locale.rb
+++ b/lib/rack/contrib/locale.rb
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ def accept_locale(env)
 
       lang = languages_and_qvalues.sort_by { |(locale, qvalue)|
         qvalue.to_f
-      }.last
+      }.last.first
 
-      lang.first
+      lang == '*' ? nil : lang
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/spec_rack_locale.rb b/test/spec_rack_locale.rb
index bb16cd4f..a955b374 100644
--- a/test/spec_rack_locale.rb
+++ b/test/spec_rack_locale.rb
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ def response_with_languages(accept_languages)
     response_with_languages('en-gb,en-us;q=0.95;en').body.should.equal('en-gb')
   end
 
+  specify 'should treat a * as "all other languages"' do
+    response_with_languages('*,en;q=0.5').body.should.equal( I18n.default_locale.to_s )
+  end
+
   specify 'should reset the I18n locale after the response' do
     I18n.locale = 'es'
     response_with_languages('en,de;q=0.8')