diff --git a/setup/translations.py b/setup/translations.py
index e591cc0462..4101bad3d2 100644
--- a/setup/translations.py
+++ b/setup/translations.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from collections import defaultdict
 from locale import normalize as normalize_locale
 from functools import partial
 
-from setup import Command, __appname__, __version__, require_git_master, build_cache_dir, edit_file, dump_json, ispy3
+from setup import Command, __appname__, __version__, require_git_master, build_cache_dir, edit_file, dump_json, ispy3, isosx
 from setup.parallel_build import parallel_check_output
 from polyglot.builtins import codepoint_to_chr, iteritems, range
 is_ci = os.environ.get('CI', '').lower() == 'true'
@@ -508,8 +508,14 @@ class Translations(POT):  # {{{
                 if l == 'en':
                     t = get_language
                 else:
-                    t = getattr(get_iso639_translator(l), 'gettext' if ispy3 else 'ugettext')
-                    t = partial(get_iso_language, t)
+                    try:
+                        t = getattr(get_iso639_translator(l), 'gettext' if ispy3 else 'ugettext')
+                        t = partial(get_iso_language, t)
+                    except IndexError:
+                        if is_ci and isosx:
+                            t = get_language
+                        else:
+                            raise
                 lang_names[l] = {x: t(x) for x in dl}
             zi = ZipInfo('lang-names.json')
             zi.compress_type = ZIP_STORED