diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/config.py b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/config.py
index 3014d3dbbd..5353f24544 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/config.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/config.py
@@ -194,7 +194,11 @@ class ConfigDialog(QDialog, Ui_Dialog):
         lang = get_lang()
         if lang is not None and language_codes.has_key(lang):
             self.language.addItem(language_codes[lang], QVariant(lang))
-        items = [(l, language_codes[l]) for l in translations.keys() if l != lang]
+        else:
+            lang = 'en'
+            self.language.addItem('English', 'en')
+        items = [(l, language_codes[l]) for l in translations.keys() \
+                 if l != lang]
         if lang != 'en':
             items.append(('en', 'English'))
         items.sort(cmp=lambda x, y: cmp(x[1], y[1]))